easyJet’s French cabin-crew union UNAC has confirmed a 24-hour national strike for Monday 6 April, the Easter Monday public holiday. All six of the airline’s French bases—Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Nice, Lyon, Bordeaux and Nantes—are affected, and management is warning of 25–40 % flight cancellations. The walk-out comes at the end of a long spring-holiday weekend when leisure and business travellers alike rush back to work, magnifying the operational impact. At the heart of the dispute is a stalled 2025 collective-bargaining agreement that promised schedule stability, better rostering and improved meal allowances. UNAC says little has changed since the last strike in February and that cabin crews are "exhausted by chronic understaffing". Because the action involves airline employees rather than air-traffic controllers or security staff, it does not meet the “extraordinary circumstances” test under EU 261/2004. Travellers whose flights are cancelled at short notice will therefore be entitled to compensation of €250–€400 plus duty-of-care expenses. Corporate travel managers are already re-protectioning passengers to rail or alternative airlines. easyJet has offered free re-booking within 14 days or full refunds, but seat availability is drying up fast on Air France, Transavia and SNCF’s TGV network. Travel management companies are urging clients to act before midnight on 5 April so that any residual inventory can be secured at still-reasonable prices. The ripple effects will reach beyond France. Mis-positioned aircraft mean Tuesday’s 7 April rotations from Milan, Barcelona and Berlin are likely to suffer delays, and ground-handling bottlenecks at Paris-CDG could spill over to other carriers. Mobility teams with time-critical assignees are advised to build in 24-hour buffers, keep proof of delay notifications for expense claims, and remind travellers that EU 261 claims must be filed within two years.
Source: Travel and Tour World
