The two largest low-cost airlines in Europe have criticised recent French air traffic control strikes for their impact on flyers, staff, and business. Industrial action in France on the 3 and 4 July 2025 resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights and cost airlines millions.
EasyJet’s chief executive, Kenton Jarvis, said the carrier was “extremely unhappy” about the withdrawal of labour and accused striking workers of causing “unacceptable challenges for customers and crew.” EasyJet alone was forced to cancel 660 flights due to the walkout, suffering losses of €17.3 million. The total cost to the aviation sector has been estimated at €120 million.
Slamming French air navigation provision as “the worst performing air traffic control area in Europe,” Jarvis called on the French government to resolve the dispute over working conditions, saying they need to “get ahead of it and do some long-term measures.”
His remarks follow similar impatience from Ryanair, whose boss Michael O’Leary has dubbed the strikes “unjustified” and “recreational”. The Irish budget carrier’s communications director Jade Kirwan complained to the UK’s Telegraph newspaper that workers had stretched out the strikes by taking extra days off over the weekend immediately after the announced strike days.
The budget carriers’ exasperation will no doubt resonate with many holidaymakers. Figures from pan-European aviation support body, Eurocontrol indicate over a million passengers suffered disrupted journeys as a direct consequence of the strikes which fell right at the start of the region’s school vacation period. Nearly 3,000 flights were cancelled, over 7,400 were delayed, and around 200,000 people were unable to fulfill their travel plans.
So, why are French air traffic control staff so at odds with the French civil aviation directorate that they are prepared to risk losing public sympathy? Behind the strikes are a range of complaints, include understaffing, outdated equipment, and “toxic” management practices.
‼French Air Traffic Control Strikes‼
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) July 3, 2025
Latest update from Michael O’Leary: pic.twitter.com/zBAN1dyo0Y
The issue has ensnared the European Union too, after O’Leary claimed there was nothing “stopping French air traffic controllers from closing the EU skies again next week or the week after.” He has even said that EU head Ursula von der Leyen should resign over the problems and demanded the bloc’s lawmakers act to prevent such strikes having such a widespread knock-on effect. France’s airspace is vital to the smooth operation of European aviation, particularly where neighbouring Britain, Italy, Spain are concerned.
The complaints from easyJet and Ryanair echo recent statements from Brussels Airport, Brussels Airlines, and TUI, highlighting the personal, financial, and reputational impact of ongoing strike action in Belgium, the target of which has been the country’s interim government, while the aviation sector has borne the brunt.
