00:00One of the top stories here in Europe, it's the second and final day of a strike by air traffic controllers in France.
00:05Tens of thousands of passengers across Europe have been affected on Thursday.
00:09The situation only expected to get worse today.
00:13The two unions behind the strike are protesting understaffing.
00:16France's transport ministry says airlines are losing millions and travelers are increasingly frustrated.
00:22Our reporter, Clovis Caselli, standing by at Orly Airport, we can speak to him now.
00:25I'll look to you, Clovis, tell us a little bit about what the situation is like at Orly Airport.
00:33Well, second day of the strike of air traffic controllers and worse disruptions than yesterday.
00:40The National Civil Aviation Authority asking airlines to cancel 40% of flights here in Paris,
00:4850% in Nice in the south of France and around 30% in Marseille and Lyon.
00:55Let's be honest, no chaos here at Orly Airport just outside of Paris.
01:01But some passengers frustrated, disappointed that their flight has been canceled.
01:07And Will, if you had planned for a sweet escape with your family, a holiday, leaving right after your shift today,
01:13I hope you weren't planning to go to Lisbon, Toulouse, Lyon or Greece because several flights as well as to Morocco have been canceled, leaving here from Orly.
01:25And Ryanair, the low-cost airline, very angry, saying 400 flights have been affected with this strike.
01:33And it's affecting 70,000 passengers, at least tens of thousands of passengers.
01:41All right, Clovis, so timing key here today, the eve of summer break.
01:46What do air traffic controllers want out of this strike and how has the public been reacting to it?
01:53First, let's say it's a minority of air traffic controllers going on strike.
01:58Only two of the smaller unions have called for this strike.
02:02Why?
02:03Because they want better working conditions.
02:06And then there's also this case of a near accident in Bordeaux during New Year's Eve in 2022 when there was nearly a collision between two planes.
02:17That led authorities to change the working rules for the air traffic controllers, tighten the rules, more monitoring of their work,
02:25and leaving some of those employees very angry.
02:30And that's why they're demonstrating, protesting, going on strike today.
02:34When you talk to passengers here in France and clients, they're not particularly sympathetic towards the air traffic controllers
02:41because it is a very demanding job where you have to be very careful.
02:47Of course, high responsibilities because you're making sure that there aren't any collisions, that the security of flights is insured.
02:53But at the same time, they are paid an average €8,000 a month.
02:57And a lot of passengers and French customers feel that they shouldn't be going on strike for these reasons I mentioned before.
03:06One last word.
03:08The transport minister here in France saying it's unacceptable that these people have gone on strike right at this sensitive time of year
03:16because, of course, it's the beginning of the summer vacations with French schools that have just closed.
03:23So a lot of families disappointed, of course, those who've had their flights cancelled.
