Just a day after French unions lodged fresh strike notices, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary sounded the alarm that repeated French air-traffic-control (ATC) walk-outs could once again derail Europe’s peak-season schedules. Speaking to Irish and French media on 23 January, O’Leary said he expects controllers to stage rolling weekend strikes from May or June, creating “another mess” similar to the chaos seen last summer.
French controllers led Europe in ATC-related delays in 2025, accounting for 31 % of the continent’s ATC disruption according to Eurocontrol. A two-day strike in July 2025 alone forced Ryanair to cancel 170 flights and re-route hundreds more that merely overflew French airspace. Because France sits at the crossroads of many north-south and east-west flight corridors, stoppages trigger extensive knock-on delays from Spain and Italy to the UK and Germany.
O’Leary renewed calls for the European Commission to fine air-navigation providers that fail to staff the morning “first wave,” and urged Brussels to mandate overflight protection so that flights unrelated to France are not cancelled. He also warned that Ryanair may further trim its French summer schedule—already cut by 13 % this winter due to domestic tax increases—if labour instability persists.
![Ryanair Warns: French ATC Strikes Could “Make Summer 2026 a Mess”]()
For mobility and HR teams the remarks are an early warning to stress-test summer travel policies. Companies should budget extra time between connections, secure back-up rail tickets on key intra-European routes, and encourage employees to add buffer days around critical client meetings. Travel insurers are reporting a spike in demand for “missed-connection” riders, while some multinationals are revisiting telepresence solutions to avoid non-essential trips.
For travellers caught in the middle of potential rerouting or last-minute flight changes, ensuring the correct travel documentation is crucial. VisaHQ’s user-friendly platform (https://www.visahq.com/france/) can secure French visas as well as transit authorisations for neighbouring countries at short notice, providing real-time status updates and expert guidance that help both corporate mobility teams and individual passengers stay one step ahead of disruption.
French tourism boards, still rebuilding long-haul visitor numbers, worry that renewed strike headlines will dent confidence at a pivotal moment: hoteliers in Paris and the Côte d’Azur are banking on a bumper season fuelled by the return of US and Asian travellers after the EES biometric-border roll-out last October.
Whether O’Leary’s prediction proves accurate now hinges on marathon wage talks between the DGAC and unions set for March. A breakthrough could stabilise the summer; a deadlock would leave airlines and passengers bracing for another season of uncertainty.
French controllers led Europe in ATC-related delays in 2025, accounting for 31 % of the continent’s ATC disruption according to Eurocontrol. A two-day strike in July 2025 alone forced Ryanair to cancel 170 flights and re-route hundreds more that merely overflew French airspace. Because France sits at the crossroads of many north-south and east-west flight corridors, stoppages trigger extensive knock-on delays from Spain and Italy to the UK and Germany.
O’Leary renewed calls for the European Commission to fine air-navigation providers that fail to staff the morning “first wave,” and urged Brussels to mandate overflight protection so that flights unrelated to France are not cancelled. He also warned that Ryanair may further trim its French summer schedule—already cut by 13 % this winter due to domestic tax increases—if labour instability persists.
For mobility and HR teams the remarks are an early warning to stress-test summer travel policies. Companies should budget extra time between connections, secure back-up rail tickets on key intra-European routes, and encourage employees to add buffer days around critical client meetings. Travel insurers are reporting a spike in demand for “missed-connection” riders, while some multinationals are revisiting telepresence solutions to avoid non-essential trips.
For travellers caught in the middle of potential rerouting or last-minute flight changes, ensuring the correct travel documentation is crucial. VisaHQ’s user-friendly platform (https://www.visahq.com/france/) can secure French visas as well as transit authorisations for neighbouring countries at short notice, providing real-time status updates and expert guidance that help both corporate mobility teams and individual passengers stay one step ahead of disruption.
French tourism boards, still rebuilding long-haul visitor numbers, worry that renewed strike headlines will dent confidence at a pivotal moment: hoteliers in Paris and the Côte d’Azur are banking on a bumper season fuelled by the return of US and Asian travellers after the EES biometric-border roll-out last October.
Whether O’Leary’s prediction proves accurate now hinges on marathon wage talks between the DGAC and unions set for March. A breakthrough could stabilise the summer; a deadlock would leave airlines and passengers bracing for another season of uncertainty.
