After a last-ditch meeting with management failed on 23 July, all four cabin-crew unions at easyJet France (SNPNC-FO, UNPNC-CFDT and others) jointly filed an indefinite strike notice covering late July and the entire month of August. The move raises the prospect of extensive disruptions at Paris-Orly, Lyon, Nice and Toulouse during the peak holiday season. Unions say schedule instability has become “unprecedented,” with rosters changing at the last minute and crew dispatched “to the four corners of Europe” without adequate rest. They want a cap of three roster changes per month, an end to involuntary “trippings,” and a new night-flight premium. Management’s proposals were deemed “insufficient and aimed only at buying time,” according to the joint communiqué. Under French labour law, individual crew must confirm participation 48 hours before striking, so cancellations will roll in waves. Travel-management companies (TMCs) are advising clients to monitor PNRs closely and consider rebooking on Air France, Transavia or rail. Because easyJet holds a roughly 15 % share of intra-European corporate travel ex-France, the walk-out could spill over onto competing carriers as displaced passengers scramble for seats. Corporate mobility teams should remind travellers that EU261 compensation rules apply but only after re-routing options are exhausted; negotiated corporate fares may include protected inventories on SkyTeam partners. Employers with time-sensitive assignments in July-August should evaluate alternative routings via Brussels, Geneva or Barcelona and build additional buffer time into itineraries. The dispute also highlights broader employee-relations strains in France’s aviation sector, where inflation-driven wage demands and roster-fatigue issues have triggered strike threats at Transavia and ground-handling firms. HR departments with posted workers in the aviation supply-chain should prepare contingency staffing plans if the unrest spreads.
Source: TourMaG
