French strikes, strikes, strikes
 

Warning my fellow travelers who plan to arrive, like me, in France in the coming days. France has been hit by numerous strikes (nothing unusual) but it seems heavier than usual. Thursday 26 will see some air disturbances and fight cancellation. June 3 to 5 seems bad too.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/201...-au-5-juin.php

Indeed, it's quite sickening. Not only the strikes in the aviation sector, but also trains, public transport, there are road blocks, etc. About 0.3% of those on strike can actually coherently reason what it is their are striking against, but there are enough others to make noise and disrupt things. So indeed, this is not the most pleasant time to travel to France.

Regarding air travel, however, the article that you quote mentions only planned cancellations at ORY, not CDG. This doesn't mean that there won't be any delays or other cancellations, but the starting situation is more positive than during some strikes in the past where 50% of flights at all major airports were cancelled ahead of time.

Still, it is worthwhile keeping an eye on the AF webpage or on the news ticker on the mobile app, where any news and changes to the flight programme will be posted.

Please let them strike for a week so I can get another round of EUR 800 vouchers like in the good old days of the 2014 strike.

You can be sure the strike will be over before June 10th and no striking until after July 10th. At least not to the point where it would affect travel during that period.

You are being optimistic. They would have maximum nuisance during the soccer Euro and hence might just choose this period on purpose.

1998 calling...

How do the prospects look for strikes in mid-late July?

Nonsense. There is no way there will be any kind of serious strike between June 10th and July 10th. It is patently unrealistic to think there could be, if you understand France and the dynamics involved. You are right that it would have maximum nuisance if it happened during the tournament, so why did they begin weeks in advance? It's because they know they cannot strike during the tournament. For several reasons.

And I think it is rather unlikely there will be another strike until after the summer holidays. The new labor laws are a loooooong way from being actually implemented.

Hmm, let's see who participated in this thread and who might not undestand France.

1. Brunos. As French as it gets. Looking at the world from Hong Kong doesn't make him less "understanding how France works". If you like, discount his "understanding France" by 10% because he spends part of his time living elsewhere.
2. bodory. French. In France. If he doesn't get France and the dynamics involved, what country would he understand? Maybe Uganda, Nepal or Belize, but from what I have read so far he actually understands France and I am grateful for many insightful posts he makes.
3. Myself. Fair enough, I am an immigrant and I have Swiss blood, so when it comes to things like strikes and running a country into the gutter I am not exactly competent, but then I've been in France since several decades so I guess I picked up a couple of things. Discount me 50% if you like (although I'd argue that I still analyse and reason better about what is going on in France than some fist-raising lorry drivers in Fos-sur-Mer.)
4. You. I'll let you be your own judge, it seems as if you know how it all works out.

Maybe you're right, who knows. But if the strikes end before the EURO2016 does that mean only you understand France?

Exactly. Maybe too long in Hong Kong, but there's no excuse for not understanding the current climate if you are paying attention to what is happening in France. Sorry I didn't see anyone else claim that there would be strikes during the Euros. Hint: there are multiple dynamics at work here. It's not just what the CGT wants.

Just try to understand what these strikes are about, what the Government's position is, and what the average person striking cares about, what the economical situation is and more.

Aye aye Sir, I'll do that. Will do my best and try to understand. Just hoping that I'll succeed.

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Back to facts: no news from Air France. The update is on their website

The program for tomorrow, Thursday 26 May, where AF will operate:

- all longhaul flights, both from CDG and ORY
- all short and medium haul flights from CDG
- 85% of short and medium haul flights from ORY

Also, Air France has communicated some rules for postponing or cancelling tickets for certain routes:

I see some people are experiencing problems filling up their cars, is this likely to affect aviation fuel too, if so how long?

According to this blog (http://psk.blog.24heures.ch/archive/...on-861504.html), yes.

But at the same time it is notorious that at least ORY and CDG are supplied directly from refineries with pipelines...

Just a quick word of warning that despite AF announcing no cancellations for today, there still are some delays because of ATC strikes. Even if you're not flying into Union's-La-La-Land your flight may be impacted (yesterday, British Airways, London-Zurich, had to take detour through congested air corridors in Belgium and Germany), and of course your flight from/to France is prone to delays (just experiencing this right now, ATC in Reims striking).

Indeed, DGAC announced that short haul flights should fill their tanks in foreign countries before flying to France in order to be able to fly out of France. Of course, longhauls cannot do that.
How airlines will recover the extra fuel cost (you burn more fuel to carry the extra weight in the tanks) is an open question.
CDG and ORY have a direct pipeline to a Refinery but it is on strike, so the airports will have to use their local reserves (about a week of usual supply).