If you're thinking about traveling to France for the holidays, be advised that Air France's unionized cabin crew employees could go on strike from December 22, 2022, until January 2, 2023.
In a disagreement over working conditions, the French unions Syndicat des Navigants du Groupe Air France and Union des Navigant's de L'Aviation Civile have warned that strike action may occur over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
After a collective agreement between staff and management that was first implemented in 1999 and was being renegotiated this fall was not extended when it was set to expire in October 2022, the unions filed a strike notice.
The airline has the last say on the work schedules for the flight staff and cabin crew in the absence of a collective agreement.
Le Monde reported that the ratio of cabin workers to passengers on long-haul flights is the main bone of contention for unions.
The standard was one flight attendant for every 48 passengers, but Air France apparently wanted the number to increase to 51 for profitability.
Since then, the airline has lowered its request to 50 passengers per member of the cabin crew.
Simple Flying also points out that salaries are a point of contention in the conflict, particularly if the new ratio is implemented.
However, 38,000 Air France employees who work as ground workers, pilots, and cabin crew earned a 5% pay raise and a bonus of 1,000 euros in September.
Air France stated that it has "taken note of the strike notification," but it also stated that talks to reinstate the collective bargaining agreement must go on past January 2023.
Keep in mind that you are entitled to a full refund and possibly even compensation if a strike affects your flight.
For frequent passengers, strikes that impact flights to and from France are nothing new.
On September 16 of this year, over 50% of French flights (reportedly more than 1,000 flights) were canceled due to air traffic controllers' strike over salary and working conditions.
In recent months, walkouts have been widespread in Europe, with numerous air travel strikes affecting Spain, Portugal, Italy, and other countries, in addition to innumerable U.K. train strikes that have a negative impact on travel.
However, a few walkouts have also been stopped.
A planned walkout by British Airways ground personnel at London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) was narrowly avoided in July, while in the midst of union negotiations, Scandinavian airline SAS and German carrier Lufthansa reached agreements with pilots in September.
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