The main French air traffic control union SNCTA has cancelled its previously announced strike form Tuesday 7 October to Thursday 9 October. No new strike has been planned at the moment.
Initially planned to take place on 18 and 19 September 2025, the main French air traffic control union SNCTA (representing 70% of France’s air traffic controllers) had already once postponed its scheduled strike due to the collapse of the French government of Francois Bayrou. The SNCTA thus planned to go on strike from 7 October to 9 October 2025 instead, but that initiative has been cancelled.
This time, the union decided to do so after consultations with the Civil Aviation Authority. According to the French news agency AFP, the two parties have made progress on internal issues and have had calm discussions with all those involved. Allegedly, agreements have been made with management, and no new strikes have been planned at the moment. Moreover, the new French Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu – who has since abdicated – had promised not to apply his austerity budget without a vote.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu unexpectedly resigns only hours after naming his cabinet, in a major deepening of France's political crisis that drove stocks and the euro sharply lower https://t.co/NfGtbRhsuB pic.twitter.com/a6r4GE0oTF
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 6, 2025
Disaster avoided
The announcement is great news for all those travelling within and over France between 7 and 9 October 2025. As one of Europe’s busiest air corridors, some 30% of all flights in Europe cross the French airspace and would thus have been impacted by the strike, resulting in delays or cancellations. According to Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, if the strike had gone through, 100,000 passengers could have had their flights cancelled.
A previous major two-day strike by French air traffic controllers in July, organised by smaller unions, led to some 3,000 cancellations, with one in nine flights being delayed by 41 minutes on average. The airports most impacted by the strike were Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona in Spain. 40,000 to 50,000 passengers were confronted with cancelled flights, with Europe’s air traffic coordinator, Eurocontrol, estimating that the disruption cost the aviation industry €120 million.
‼French Air Traffic Control Strikes‼
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) July 3, 2025
Latest update from Michael O’Leary: pic.twitter.com/zBAN1dyo0Y
The SNCTA has been pushing for better pay and working conditions. According to the SNCTA, the governance of air traffic control has been characterised by mistrust, punitive practices, and brutal managerial methods for years. While the French transport ministry has welcomed the decision to cancel the strike, it also stated that “discussions must continue in order to improve the performance of French air traffic control, which currently remains below expectations.”
