French workers have organized a mass walkout of their jobs on Thursday, January 19, in protest of a proposed pension system that would require most people in the country to work two more years before being able to retire, according to CNN. Among the unions supporting the walkout is covers transportation, meaning France’s trains, subways and air travel will be disrupted today.
According to France’s civil aviation authority, about 20 percent of flights into and out of Paris’ Orly Airport will be canceled due to striking air traffic control workers. Further delays and cancelations are possible as well, the administration said.
Currently, according to Flight Aware, nearly three in 10 (29 percent) of Air France’s flights are delayed, accounting for 186 flights. Another 54 flights (8 percent) have been canceled today. Forty percent of flights departing Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport have been delayed, while 38 percent of flights out of Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport are delayed; 13 percent of flights departing from Orly Airport are canceled. In terms of arrivals, another 13 percent are canceled going into Orly. Thirty percent of arrivals at Lyon are delayed and another 18 percent arriving at CDG are delayed.
Reuters reports that 20 to 33 percent of high-speed TGV lines will be operating, and only 10 percent of local TER trains will be running, the SNCF train operator said. Additionally, while the Lyria connection with Switzerland will be disrupted, other international train connections will be entirely canceled. International traffic on the Eurostar and Thalys lines are operating nearly as normal. In Paris, many commuter lines are canceled, with others also facing disruptions.
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