Corporate travel planners got a temporary reprieve on Monday evening, 14 September, when the SNPL pilots’ union announced it would postpone a two-day strike by France-based easyJet crews that had been scheduled for 13-14 September. The walk-out—over rostering stability and fatigue management—has been rescheduled for 24-25 September while negotiations continue. SNPL said management’s willingness to reopen dialogue constituted “a basis for progress,” but warned that no agreement has yet been secured on key demands such as predictable scheduling and limits on successively modified duty periods. The union represents pilots at six French easyJet bases: Paris CDG, Paris Orly, Lyon, Nice, Nantes and Bordeaux—hubs that handled more than 10 million passengers last year. Although the immediate disruption was averted, travel managers face a compressed re-booking window should talks collapse. EasyJet has already re-protected most 13-14 September passengers but has not released contingency capacity for the new dates, citing fleet utilisation constraints at the tail end of the peak season. Business-travel-heavy routes such as Paris–Toulouse and Lyon–London Gatwick could see cancellations of up to 40 % if the strike goes ahead, according to OAG schedule analysis. Under EU261, passengers are entitled to care but not compensation for strike-related cancellations deemed outside the carrier’s control; however, some French courts have recently interpreted internal labour disputes as compensable, so companies should retain receipts. SNPL’s action follows a cabin-crew stoppage in August and underscores persistent labour friction across Europe’s low-cost sector as inflation erodes real wages. Travel buyers are advised to monitor union communiqués and keep critical staff on flexible tickets around 24-26 September. Rail alternatives on the same city-pairs still have availability, but SNCF fares are rising.
Source: Business Travel News Europe
