Ryanair slams EU chief for ‘ignoring’ a million passengers during French strikes
Ryanair has hit out at the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, for “ignoring” over a million passengers calling for the protection of overflights during ongoing strikes action.
The budget airline said it is “utterly unacceptable” that von der Leyen is “ignoring these more than 1.1 million passengers, who are sick and tired of having their overflights cancelled at short notice due to repeated strikes.”
It comes as French ATC operators stage fresh walk outs today and tomorrow in an ongoing dispute over pension reforms proposed by Macron, which would see the retirement age in France increased from 62 to 64 years old.
“The EU Commission must now take urgent action and insist that all states protect overflights during ATC strikes as is already done in Greece, Italy and Spain.”
The Hungary-based carrier asked the Commission to protect 100 per cent of overflights during the strikes, require a 72 hour notice of employee participation and a 21-day notice period for any future industrial action.
France currently protects a number of domestic and short-haul flights through minimum service rules, while some other European countries instead protect overflights during strikes. Ryanair argue “this is unfair.”
“France should use Minimum Service Laws to protect overflights during ATC strikes as they do in Greece, Italy and Spain,” the carrier said this morning.
Ryanair’s statement said that there had been 58 days of ATC strike action over the past five months in France, and that this was over 11 times higher than 2022.
The airline officially submitted its petition to von der Leyen last week.
A spokesperson from the EU commission said: “the Commission has taken note of the petition launched by Ryanair to protect overflights in the event of strikes.”
“Ensuring a smoother summer for passengers than last year is a joint responsibility that requires action at all levels – from offering sufficiently attractive working conditions, to ensuring that contingency plans are in place, facilitating training and cross-border mobility of personnel, and, of course, promoting dialogue between all stakeholders to address disputes before they escalate.”
“Naturally industrial action cannot be ruled out, and the right to strike is a fundamental right that the EU fully supports. However, experience in some countries has shown that it is possible to ensure that national air traffic management strikes do not have a disproportionate effect on the overall European network.”