Mobilization day at the French airline. This Tuesday, several unions at the company called employees to strike, in protest against the decision to leave Paris-Orly airport. The consequences of this social movement should, however, remain limited: no flights are canceled, but passengers are still invited to arrive at the airport early, in anticipation of possible difficulties.
“Air France confirms that it has been informed of a call for a strike by several unions for the day of November 28, 2023 at Paris Orly airport and at certain stopovers in the regions. The company is maintaining its entire flight schedule for this day,” Air France said in a press release. From the same source, the company “invites its customers to favor online check-in (on airfrance.fr or via the Air France application), and to anticipate their arrival at the airport”.
Several unions representing Air France staff (the first three, FO, the CFDT, the UNSA, and the fifth, the CGT) called for work to stop on Tuesday. They are protesting against the company’s decision, announced on October 18, to consolidate services to domestic destinations at Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) in 2026, leading to the elimination of six lines at Orly where only connections to Corsica will remain. . Part of the flight program from Orly will be taken over by the “low-cost” subsidiary Transavia.
The CFE-CGC-UNAC, the fourth union, explained to AFP that it was joining the mobilization “but not the strike movement at this stage”, nevertheless demanding support measures “meet the challenge” . Air France has estimated the number of ground employees and 170 maintenance employees affected at Orly at 430, as well as around a hundred in the region, and is committed to avoiding forced departures.
“The strong resource needs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle identified by 2026 would make it possible to guarantee everyone equivalent employment on the Roissy site. All mobility solutions on the Paris Orly platform would be researched beforehand,” the company explained in October. Since then, “a method agreement was signed mainly with the organizations representing the ground personnel establishment on Tuesday, November 14, contractualizing the opening of negotiations and confirming the company’s commitment to best support all employees concerned by this development,” according to Air France.
The company justified the decision to leave Orly by a “structural drop in demand” for short-haul flights due in particular to the development of videoconferencing and the reduction in business travel.