French Air Traffic Controllers Strike Disrupts 170 Flights, 30,000 Passengers Across Europe

French air traffic controllers initiated a two-day nationwide strike at the start of the busy summer vacation season, protesting understaffing, outdated systems, toxic workplace management, and new organizational changes including attendance checks. The strike forced the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) to instruct airlines to cut flights by up to 40% at major airports including Paris Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Nice, leading to cancellations and delays affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers across Europe. Budget airlines Ryanair and EasyJet canceled hundreds of flights, impacting more than 30,000 travelers, with disruptions extending to flights merely overflying French airspace. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary criticized the strike as unfair to European passengers and urged the European Commission to take urgent action to protect overflights during such strikes. The strike was triggered in part by safety concerns following a near collision incident in Bordeaux in 2022, where attendance shortages were implicated, and the subsequent introduction of stricter attendance and presence controls for controllers. Transport officials condemned the strike, emphasizing the necessity of safety measures, while unions demanded increased staffing and pay improvements to address chronic workforce shortages and aging infrastructure.