Law No. 2023-1289, of December 28, 2023, relating on the predictability of the organization of air navigation services in the event of a social movement and the adequacy between the scale of the strike and traffic reduction (JORF of December 29, 2023)
Air traffic management in French airports (air traffic control, flight information) is carried out by the Air Navigation Services Directorate (ANSD), which is attached to the Minister for Transport.
Until now, the law did not allow the Minister for Transport to know in advance the number of strikers in the air navigation services. This resulted in significant disruption in the event of a strike.
The objective of Law No. 2023-1289 of 28 December 2023 is to provide the Minister for Transport with accurate, complete and reliable information about staff wishing to exercise their right to strike. Based on this information, the Minister for Transport will be able to take measures to ensure that certain essential missions are carried out as defined in law.
The employees concerned by this system are only those who carry out control, information and warning functions about flights and whose absence is likely to directly affect the performance of flights.
In concrete terms, the law imposes on them an obligation to declare their participation in the strike movement no later than noon two days before a strike day to the Air Navigation Services Directorate (ANSD). If the employee finally decides not to participate in the strike, he must declare this no later than 6 p.m. two days before.
In the event of non-compliance with this obligation, various sanctions are available ranging from a reprimand to dismissal.
Finally, it is important to note that Law No. 2023-1289 does not limit the air navigation agents’ right to strike; it only regulates the conditions under which they use their right of strike. The constitutional Council held that the law was in line with the French constitution (decision number 2023-859, December 21).
Christophe Lachièze
Full professor at University Paris 8
