koloagirl

Aloha from Kaua'i!

I was just made aware yesterday of the Air France pilots wanting to go on strike for the month of September. Apparently a statement from the pilots union is to be issued August 28th.

My question is: I have only flown Air France once before, I really enjoyed it and so on this trip which starts from here in Hawai'i to Paris on Sept. 7th I also booked Air France.

What generally happens in these threatened strike situations? Since I am international long haul am I likely to be affected? What happens if you are affected? I've no experience with this and since this is a trip to Paris for two weeks that we obviously have saved and longed for.....I'm stressed out big time thinking that we may just see it vanish like that.

Any thoughts? We have only been to Europe (Paris) 3 times....so this is new to us.

Appreciate any thoughts on this situation.

Thank you.

olivedel

I would advise you not to over-worry on a strike, especially if you do not have intra-Europe connections out of CDG. Long-haul flights generally get the least affected by strikes.
In any case, transportation to your final destination and meals/accomodation will be provided by Air France in case of IRROP, as long as pushing back your flights back home if you want/can stay longer if your flight gets cancelled or heavily delayed.

Zembla

I agree with the above. First of all, threatening with a strike doesn't mean there will be a strike. Then IF there is a strike, there are different unions whom usually are divided, some may go on strike, some not. And in almost all cases, the worst that happens to long haul are some delays. Then, in the unlikely case your long haul flight is affected, AF will help you to sort it out, and that goes further than accommodation etc., they will rebook you on another flight, which can also be on KL or DL metal.

brunos

If a pilot strike happens, it will have more serious consequences. But this is only the start of bargaining tactics as AF plans to transfer some routes to a subsidiary. I doubt that there will be much action early September. You should be safe as this will be a slow-moving bargaining process. Just a guess

koloagirl

Aloha from Kaua'i!

I hope you are all right and this won't affect our flight. I have never had this happen before so am pretty clueless on how it would be handled if the strike actually occurs and affects our flight(s).

We are limited with the amount of vacation time we have and have also rented a flat in Paris that is not available other than the time we have it booked for.

I will be keeping my fingers crossed.

brunos

SNPL, the main pilot union calls for a strike from 15 to 22 Sep.

olivedel

Great, exactly when I planned to move back to Paris

bebop bonnie

And we're scheduled to fly MIA to CDG on Sept 17. Is this considered a long haul least likely to be impacted by a strike as olivedel mentioned????

olivedel

It is a long haul, indeed. As of now, we can't really know the exact impact of the strike, but I do confirm that generally, Long Haul flights are the least impacted.
And for that specific strike, because it is about a restructuration plan of the Short- and -Medium Haul activity of AF.

joyu12

Would i be right in assuming HOP-operated flights wouldn't be affected by the strike? I might have to pop around to OSL around the 19th and i'd like to avoid booking flights impacted by a possible strike...

bebop bonnie

Thanks olivelel for your (appropriately tentative) assurances!! I'll continue to watch this thread....and (attempt to) call AF for updates!

brunos

It will not help to call AF as the call center will not have any info until 48hrs before the strike.
There is a good probability that it will not take place, as this is common French negotiation tactics (unfortunately).
But if it takes place, I do not share the optimism of some posters. A strike by pilots is quite different from a strike by some ground handling or flight attendants unions, often minor ones. SNPL is the major union and even if longhaul pilots do not directly affected (?) by Perform 2020 , they will show some solidarity with their mediumhaul colleagues. Also there will be some elections in six months and a rival union SPAF has been gaining.

zelda1928

We're scheduled to fly on Sept 19 from Birmingham UK to CDG. Confirmation says "operated by FlyBe", but was booked through Air France. I'm guessing it is a "code share".

Since it is "short haul", does this flight fall under the category that is likely to be affected by the strike?

Is it too soon to panic?

Thanks for any info, good or bad.

JOUY31

This flight should not be impacted at all, as it is operated by a different carrier, FlyBe.

FTcadence

OP, I'm not sure if you saw, but...

AF's pilots' union just announced a week-long strike between September 15 and 22.

http://www.france24.com/en/20140828-...mber-low-cost/