French strike adds to air travel woes

PARIS – Travellers in Europe faced more misery yesterday as French air traffic controllers launched a five-day strike and British and German airlines sought to head off threats of industrial action.

A quarter of flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle, a major international hub, were cancelled, along with around half out of Paris Orly, which mainly serves domestic routes and the French overseas territories.Queues were building up at Orly, but most passengers were resigned as 17 flights flashed up ‘cancelled’ on information screens. Air France has vowed to maintain most long-haul services during the strike.Four French unions have called the strike in order to protest against the planned merger of the Belgian, Dutch, French, German, Luxembourg and Swiss air traffic control networks.French controllers fear the merger will end their protected role as French state employees, but the French aviation authority DGAC has insisted that its status will not be changed.France’s national audit office gave a severe assessment of the air traffic control sector last month. It estimated controllers get 30 weeks’ holiday a year, winning generous allowances because bosses fear disputes with them.Beyond France, more widespread chaos was prevented, or at least postponed, late on Monday, when German flag-carrier Lufthansa persuaded pilots to return to negotiations after only one day of a planned four-day stoppage.Meanwhile, British Airways faced the threat of a crippling protest after cabin crew voted by more than 80 per cent in favour of new strike action, the fruit of a long-running and bitter dispute over working conditions.British Airways, which has forecast a record loss in its current financial year, says it wants to review the working conditions of its cabin crew, who are paid more than their counterparts at other airlines.Lufthansa, Europe’s biggest airline in terms of passenger numbers, said Tuesday it hoped to get services running normally by the end of the week as talks with unions got under way. – Nampa-AFP