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The report concluded French traffic controllers were quick to down tools when unhappy with job conditions but also out of support for fellow state sector workers.
The main union, UASC-CGT, said the comparison was unfair. “Switzerland posts less strike days but it also has far fewer controllers and much less traffic over there,” it said.
As well as frequent strikes, France is also in pole position for delays linked to outdated equipment, the report said.
“Our country is responsible for 33 per cent of delays due to air traffic control in Europe,” said Capo-Canellas. “In France, the control equipment is outdated,” he said, adding that maintenance costs come to €136 million per year.
Despite having pumped more than €2 billion into modernising its air traffic equipment since 2011, the senator lamented: “We are way behind our neighbours.” The senate report saw no immediate prospect of improvement. All hopes are pinned on a new computer system, whose budget has exploded. Due to be installed in 2015, it is now only expected to be up and running by 2022-3.
The report warned that the situation risked getting worse given that the 4000 French air traffic controllers have to cope with increasing traffic each year.
They controlled more than 3.1 million flights in 2017, up 4 per cent from 2016 and 8.6 per cent from 2015.
On a more positive note, the report found that while slow and even “obsolete”, the system was not actually unsafe and remarkably “resilient”.
Telegraph, London
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