May 1: Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse... Major disruptions expected at many airports

Travelers planning to fly this Monday, May 1, are likely to face significant difficulties. This Wednesday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) announced that it expected major disruptions at several airports on Labor Day. A strike notice having been filed, the flight plans will be adapted, the administration said.

In detail, a third of the flights will be canceled at Paris-Orly, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes and Toulouse. At the same time, 25% of flights will be canceled at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, Nice and Beauvais. “Despite these preventive measures, disruptions and delays” are to be expected, specifies the administration. Travelers are therefore invited to avoid flying that day, to postpone their departure, or to check with their company beforehand to ensure that their flight is well maintained.

This announcement comes as the unions call for massive mobilization on May 1: on Labor Day, opponents of pension reform hope to strike a blow, a few weeks after the enactment of the law. A little earlier in the day, the Union Syndicale de l'Aviation Civile-CGT (Usac-CGT) had filed a strike notice for the day: "The agents of the DGAC are fully concerned by this reform, including those benefiting from active service”, he underlined in a letter.

The mobilization of agents against the pension reform has cost the airline sector dearly. A few days ago, the National Federation of Aviation and its Trades (Fnam) indicated that the “34 days of strike since January 1, 2023 have led to the cancellation of more than 3,500 flights at Orly [...], impacting a total of 470,000 passengers at Paris airports in the first quarter of 2023”. In mid-April, a report by the European air traffic monitoring body - Eurocontrol - explained that the strikes had cascading effects on flights on the continent, arousing the ire of companies.