Hundreds of passengers are facing disruption across France this weekend after easyJet cabin crew launched a two-day strike over what unions describe as deteriorating working conditions, unstable rosters and growing fatigue.
easyJet has cancelled around 100 flights to and from France this weekend as hundreds of its France-based cabin crew walk out in a dispute over working conditions.
The industrial action began today, Saturday, August 15, and is due to continue throughout Sunday, August 16, hitting one of the busiest weekends of the European summer holiday season. Reports suggest around 68% of easyJet’s France-based cabin crew are participating in the walkout.
Flights from several of the airline’s major French operations are affected, including services at Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris Orly, Nice, Lyon and Bordeaux. At Bordeaux alone, cancellations visible on the airport’s departure boards today included services to Lyon, Essaouira, Olbia and Nice, although many other easyJet flights continued to operate.
The action has been called jointly by the SNPNC-FO, UNPNC-CFDT and UNAC-CFE-CGC unions following months of warnings over cabin crew working conditions and unsuccessful talks with easyJet management.
Crew Say Rosters Have Become Unsustainable
At the heart of the dispute are concerns surrounding roster stability, last-minute schedule changes, demanding rotations and accumulated fatigue.
Unions say crew have been dealing with increasingly unpredictable schedules, making it difficult to plan their lives away from work. SNPNC-FO has also criticised repeated transitions between early, late and night duties, minimum rest periods and the increasing use of multi-day trips.
In a particularly strongly worded statement earlier this month, the union claimed that despite repeatedly raising concerns with management, cabin crew were still facing “last-minute changes” and imposed roster patterns without sufficient protections.
SNPNC-FO said the instability of crew schedules remained its “number one problem”, arguing that constant changes were having a growing impact on employees’ private lives.
The unions have placed responsibility for the disruption firmly on easyJet, saying any cancellations resulting from the walkout were the consequence of management failing to provide what they consider an adequate response to repeated warnings over recent months.
easyJet Calls Strike ‘Opportunistic’
easyJet has rejected the unions’ criticism and said it is disappointed that industrial action is taking place while further negotiations are already planned.
The airline said it had offered a series of adjustments designed to address crew concerns and described the decision to strike during the peak summer travel period as an “opportunistic action”. Further formal talks between the airline and unions are due to take place in September.
Measures previously put forward by easyJet reportedly included additional roster support, greater flexibility over trip preferences, attempts to reduce transitions between morning and evening duties, an extension of trip-trading arrangements and additional management support at weekends.
However, SNPNC-FO has dismissed the proposals as insufficient, arguing they fail to introduce firm protections that could improve roster stability.
The current dispute forms part of a wider strike notice covering August 7 until September 2, meaning further industrial action could potentially take place if an agreement is not reached. Unions must provide advance notice of individual strike dates.
Passengers Urged to Check Flights
easyJet has apologised to customers affected by the action and said it will attempt to minimise disruption.
Passengers whose flights are cancelled are being offered the option to transfer to another easyJet service without a change fee or receive a refund. Where passengers cannot travel until the following day, accommodation may also be provided where appropriate.
The airline is urging anyone travelling to or from France this weekend to check their flight status through its app or online Flight Tracker before travelling to the airport.
While around 100 flights are reported to have been cancelled across the two-day strike, easyJet continues to operate a significant proportion of its French schedule, meaning passengers should not assume their flight has been cancelled simply because it touches a French airport.
The walkout continues on Sunday, with the final level of disruption likely to depend on crew availability and the knock-on effects of Saturday’s cancellations.
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