EasyJet flights from Paris normal despite pilots' strike

EasyJet flights from Paris’s Charles De Gaulle/Roissy airport were leaving on time on Wednesday morning despite a pilot’s strike, journalists reported, even though 65 per cent of pilots there and 30 per cent at Paris’s Orly airport had joined the industrial action.

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The company has brought in reserve pilots and moved some from other bases to ensure flights take off.

British-based easyJet employs about 800 people on French contracts at five airports – Roissy, Orly, Lyon, Toulouse and Nice.

It has 12 per cent market share in France and carried 12 million passengers in 2011, a 19 per cent on 2010.

No delays either in registration or take-off were reported at Roissy by 9.00am local time.

On Tuesday easyJet said that no flights were expected to be cancelled but advised passengers to consult its website before leaving for airports.

The pilot’s union SNPL has called on the 250 easyJet pilots who are working under French contracts to strike on 15, 17 and 19 August in support for a demand for a wage rise.

The company says that it is ready to discuss the claim.

A French law that came into force in March obliges individual airline employees to declare their intention of striking 48 hours before the action starts and employers to give forecasts of traffic 24 hours ahead.