France’s Largest Pilot Union Plans Week-Long Strike

An Air France aircraft at Paris Charles de Gaulle

The union representing most of France’s pilots warned of a week-long strike in early May if a new law that would diminish its power were approved.

The strike would result in the cancellation of virtually all flights by French airlines were it to take place.

The Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne, or SNPL, whose pilot division SNPL France ALPA represents pilots at Air France, Aigle Azur, Corsair, XL Airways, Easy Jet , and Vueling, said Thursday that the strike would take place for one week starting May 6, 2019.

The news was first reported in La Tribune.

The union believes it would see its influence significantly reduced if a new law being debated in the country’s parliament were to go into effect. The law would group the union with other larger trade unions in aviation in negotiations with employers. This would reduce the ability of the union to voice its concerns on matters that impact pilots.

In 2014, the union went on strike for two weeks over the fate of Transavia, the airline’s low-cost carrier.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)