Toulouse France – This Thursday, April 25, flights at Toulouse airport will experience some disruptions due to a strike by air traffic controllers. The air traffic controllers have not said their last word.
Towards a dark day in French airports this Thursday? The National Union of Air Traffic Controllers (SNCTA) have launched a call for a strike for next Thursday, April 25, announcing significant disruptions to operations at French airports, including Toulouse. This new mobilization follows the publication of version 4 of the Social Protocol on Monday April 8 by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC). Its objective is to modernize French air traffic control by aligning its practices with those of its European counterparts, particularly with regard to training, work organization and territorial coverage.
Flights in Toulouse impacted by the air traffic controllers’ strike
However, the SNCTA categorically rejects this version of the protocol, considering it “a provocation if not an insult”. The union refuses to sign it for several reasons. He declines them: “The about-face compared to V3 regarding access to HEB and HEA is unacceptable. It directly calls into question the sincerity of the negotiations and the compromises reached so far; The technical blockages identified on certain points have still not evolved despite the solutions found on many others; Social support in terms of remuneration, career and ATC is very insufficient or even decreasing for certain centers and accentuates the gap with our European counterparts.
This situation led the SNCTA to file a national strike notice for Thursday April 25, involving all air traffic controllers as well as traffic monitoring agents. The mobilization will affect flight operations from the start of duty in the morning until the end of night duty the following morning.
For a few months now, the union has been adamant and reassuring that it ” denounces this conduct of talks.” According to him, “the goal of these conversations is not so much to address the challenges of air control and the expectations of the profession, as it is to advance the breakdown of a social contract.” Thus, on Thursday, travelers should anticipate considerable delays in aviation transportation.
