The French government wanted to calm down on Tuesday in the face of the announced strikes before the Christmas holidays and said in particular that it did not expect “severe disruptions to air traffic”.
Transport Minister Clément Beaune is “quite confident” about the planned air and rail strikes around the Christmas holidays. “We don’t anticipate major disruptions in the air for holiday departures,” he said on public broadcaster France 2. “There will be trains, there will be planes,” he said, pounding.
“After two years of Covid, I believe the French have the right to rest, to find their families, to have a little holiday at Christmas,” declared the minister, who “demands responsibility” and asks “not more trouble.” ‘ to ‘concerns’ and ‘difficulties’ related to ‘the international economic situation’.
The threat of social strife during the end of year celebrations weighs heavily on several airlines in France as well as SNCF.
On the railways, the conflict with signallers remains tense, and the SUD-Rail union is calling for a strike from Thursday 15 December at 8 p.m. to Monday 19 December at 8 a.m., i.e. the entire first weekend of the school holidays.
At Air France, the Air France cabin crew unions UNAC and SNGAF have filed a strike for the period December 22 to January 2.
The pilots of the Guadeloupe company Corsair are called for a strike from December 16th to 22nd and Air Antilles is threatened by a social movement of hostesses and stewards from December 17th to 22nd. The specter of a strike during the holiday season also hovers over EasyJet’s French subsidiary.
“For those who have tickets,” “there’s a very good chance flights will be available during the Christmas holidays,” although “there can always be last-minute problems,” estimates Mr Beaune.
On the rail network, “there may be some disruptions” on “certain TGV axes” and “we are working hard” to “minimize” them, he said.