easyJet French Pilots Postpone Strike Again as Roster Talks Continue

Pilots at easyJet’s French bases have again pushed back strike action while negotiations on rostering continue. The Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne (SNPL) filed its notice on 4 September for a two-day stoppage on 13 and 14 September, then postponed it to 24 and 25 September, and has now moved it to 1 and 2 October.

What the Union Wants

The dispute is about schedule stability rather than headline pay. The SNPL said it had spent four months seeking concrete measures, and described the situation in blunt terms: it is not uncommon for a pilot to end a month with a roster in which no day matches what was originally planned.

The union said the postponements were intended to give talks more time. “The negotiations are progressing,” it said, adding that the delay was to allow a little longer to try to reach an agreement.

The Cabin Crew Precedent

The pilots’ demands follow a settlement reached with easyJet’s cabin crew unions after a strike on 15 and 16 August led to nearly 100 flight cancellations. Under that agreement, cabin crew are guaranteed at least five fixed days per month when their schedules cannot be changed, along with compensation for schedule changes of more than two hours.

The SNPL has argued that measures management once described as impossible became possible after the cabin crew action, and wants comparable protection for pilots. No firm commitment on the key pilot issues had been secured when the latest postponement was announced.

Bases and Passenger Rights

Because the notice was filed by a single union for one airline’s French bases, any stoppage would hit easyJet’s French operation specifically rather than the wider network.

Pilots at all six French bases could take part: Paris Orly, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Nantes, Lyon, Nice and Bordeaux. French rules require pilots to give 48 hours’ notice before striking, so a stoppage could still be confirmed shortly before the new dates.

Travellers on affected flights are advised to watch airline messages. Because airline staff strikes are treated as arising from the carrier’s own operations, passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled are generally entitled to compensation on top of refunds under EU rules.

Wider French Labour Backdrop

The easyJet dispute is one of several in French aviation this month. Volotea’s French pilots were called out by SNPL, UNAC and SPL for 4 to 6 September over pay and workload, according to French press, while French cabin crew at French bee had a strike notice extended through 6 September.

Neither easyJet nor the union has published the specific roster measures under discussion, so the scope of any eventual deal remains unclear.

For crew careers, the easyJet case shows roster predictability moving alongside pay as a bargaining priority, with settlements in one crew group quickly becoming benchmarks for another.