Air France strike
 

I just read AirFrance pilots are striking. Has anyone encountered a disruption in their flights from the US? We are to leave Saturday evening and I am getting worried that that flight or our connection to Naples may not go. Do these strikes last for 6 days usually?

You had better look into this NOW! The strike is supposed to last un Sept 22. And yes, US flights are impacted.

My itinerary was to fly to Paris and then on to Naples. two separate flights. So after sitting on the phone with first AirFrance which kept cutting me off and then Delta for more than 1 1/2 hours, the best Delta could offer me was a flight to Rome for an additional $1007.00! This is highway robbery. I am going to keep hoping my flight to Paris will go and then if the strike continues through to Sunday hope that my second flight to Naples will go or at least let me know early enough to rebook on another airline to Naples like Easyjet to Rome and train to Naples. I checked today's flight Dulles to Paris (same time as mine) and it is scheduled to leave on time today.

Does anyone have an opinion on what is best to do right now? I thought I would inquire as to my other flight options but neither airlines are helping me at this point. Am I worrying too early?

The Dulles flight to Paris will go today, but, is cancelled tomorrow.....

Yesterday and today, 60% of all Air France flights have been cancelled and cancellations are likely to continue from now through next Monday. Schedules within Europe are operating at around 20% of normal, with a higher percentage of transatlantic flights being completed. However, disruptions have occurred across the board and everyone flying AF has been affected.

AF is sending cancellation notifications approximately 24 hours before scheduled departures. Beyond that, no one really knows what will happen.

The strike is due to go on until the 22nd. It is mostly affecting domestic and European flights. So you may get to Paris and no further.
Air France did announce this a while ago, and encouraged people to contact them to reschedule or cancel. Now they are run off their feet coping with the strike fallout.
Do you have insurance?

That is unusual, it seems to me, I thought they usually didn't last that long. Not that it matters if this time it is, I would guess the AF website would be the best place to look about your flights, of course (whether cancelled or not).

This poster seems very late to the game...yes the strike is scheduled thru Sept. 22 and yes US flights are affected and even more the inter europe flights...so if you get to paris you can rest assured the other flights will be fun unless you deal with it before you leave. not much here but TA has some threads on this...if you do some checking you will see that indeed this is an unusual strike and most expect it to go all week and it could go longer.

Is there any value to scrapping the second flight and taking a train.

I realize that's a long ride but 12 hours or so is better than nothing.

I would say that is an option if the first flight operates...but changing to a different flight in advance would be better...12 hours on a train after a long haul flight might make me scramble now for a better option. Bet the trains are full too.

I am thinking I may get to Paris but agree the Paris to Naples flight will not depart. I am going to see if I can book an easy jet flight to Rome than a train to Naples. Does that sound like a good plan even if
I don't know if the Paris Naples flight will be cancelled. Just write that flight cost off and hope at some point they cancell that flight? AirFrance is doing nothing for its passengers until the flight is officially cancelled and as of now they are telling me it is still a confirmed flight. Even if I heard about this (which I did not) what could I have done without a hefty penalty? What is the best action to take for future reference? Sitting on hold for 2 full hours is hard when I have a job, then not getting a satisfactory answer is just beyond frustrating.

you will have to wait till they cancel your flight in order to rebook without a charge.. as you want go to Naples see if you can fly on a partner airline to someplace other than France. For example can you fly Delta to Atlanta and then to Rome? If possible have a plan in place, and see if you can hold a seat without paying..

I tried the Delta route to Rome, but after holding for an answer from the agent her final answer was if I was to book through Rome there would be additional cost of $1007.00 per person. I can't afford that.

Oh and I asked if I could hold the seats without paying and that answer was no. I tried everything I could think of, and I was very polite, but Delta could do nothing for me today. I couldn't help wondering if they were trying to discourage me from doing anything this early.

The worse part is at first she told me the price increase would only be $163.00 each, I told her I would take those seats, but then put me on hold again for another 45 minutes and this time came back to say she made a mistake the price increase was really $1007.00!

I am so sorry, travelsis. We, too, were very worried about the strike and were on the phone for hours with different agents. We were fortunate that our flight from San Francisco to Paris did depart on Sept. 15 but heard the Sept. 16 flights were cancelled.

I think it is a good idea to have alternate plans in mind but, yes, it seems you can't do much until you hear if the original flight is cancelled. Fingers crossed that the strike will be settled before you depart. Good luck to you!

you may be able to hold a reservation for 24 hours or less, so try looking online and see what flights/routes would work for you; that way if your flight gets cancelled you will know
what your options are but until your flight gets cancelled you are stuck. friends went through this with Lufthansa two years ago when they went on strike..it was nerve wracking and annoying.. hang in there.

I had worked for some time with United Airlines. Have faced similar issues with passengers worried about their flights and United being uncertain about the strike and the timings of their flights.
So here is my professional advice to you, (yes you will have to be again on the phone for a couple of hours with Delta and Air France)
But don't call them right away. first check the Air France website for the updates. Call up Delta/ AF and ask them about their RULE 240 policy, Rule 240 in the US means that if an airline cancels an flight due to a controllable reason( like mechanical fault, late crew,strike etc)
Airline is suppose to book them on the next flight available (in this case AF) or any otger airlines flight, eg United, British Airways, LUFTHANSA, KLM Royal Dutch etc.
Passengers don't own a single penny to the alternative airlines and AF will later foot the bill on their behalf.
The airlines will pro actively never disclose this to the passengers as it is a huge loss to them.
My advice is wait for your actual flight, if it flies on time, Great but if it doesn't then tell AF to book you on the competitors mentioned above. Now you have 3 days, so check all the other airlines that fly out of IAD, and fly in to CDG/ FCO/MXP etc even Amsterdam or London will do.
Don't check their prices right now, just that they are available as of now and keeping fingers crossed that they will be on Saturday /Sunday. And yes in case of rule 240, the cabin has to be the same ie if yours was an economy ticket, one can't be booked in Business cabin of the other airline and vic-a-versa.

Hope this helps.



Cheers

Satvik

Extremely useful advice, Satvik. Here is an update from Wikipedia.

Rule 240
Federal Aviation Administration Rule 240 mandated that an airline with a delayed or canceled flight had to transfer passengers to another carrier if the second carrier could get passengers to the destination more quickly than the original airline.

The original rule, referring to a federal requirement before airline deregulation in 1978, is long-obsolete;[1] however, the major US airlines have filed "conditions of carriage" with the U.S. Department of Transportation guaranteeing their similar provisions. These provisions vary from airline to airline, and generally apply only to delays that are absolutely the airline's fault, such as mechanical delays, and not to "force majeure" events such as weather, strikes, or "acts of God".

The European equivalent is EU Regulation 261/2004.

The news this morning is that 60% of the flights will be cancelled through at least Thursday.

http://www.francetvinfo.fr/economie/...l#xtor=EPR-51-[greve-a-air-france-toujours-pres-de-60-des-vols-annules-jeudi_696137]-20140917-[bouton]

Nerve wracking! We got caught up in the train strike in June. It gradually burned itself out. I think the workers needed a paycheck. But the service industries were out to take advantage of the plight raising rates phenomenally

Am I seeing correctly on AF website that only one flight today out OF iAD is cancelled? That's optimistic!

Sending positive thoughts

<i>These provisions vary from airline to airline, and generally apply only to delays that are absolutely the airline's fault, such as mechanical delays, and not to "force majeure" events such as weather, strikes, or "acts of God"</i>

I am not sure that a strike is an ¨act of God¨. Air France management could voluntarily remove the threat to the pilot´s job security and the strike would be over.

We are still caught up in this mess. We are scheduled to fly on AF on Saturday from LAX to CDG, that flight has been cancelled 3 days this week, and I believe is cancelled for tomorrow. I am watching it carefully for Friday. Spent an hour on the phone with AF yesterday as they very graciously tried to 'reposition' us on Delta, but all flights and connections in the US were full on both weekend days, unless we wanted to pay $$$$ for business class. Declined that offer. We are meeting up with a small culinary tour in Rovinj, Croatia on the 23/24, so there is a bit of skootch room for us, even if it means giving up our 2 days in Zagreb. IF our Saturday flight is cancelled, and we are flying down to LA from our northern CA home on Friday, guess I will be back on the phone with AF, and will see what our next options are. AF will refund our tickets they say, but this tour is paid for. Very hard to get my head around packing today or tomorrow.

I don't think Delta has any Rule 240, that isn't a law. It's up to an airline's discretion whether they put you on another plane, they aren't required to (another airline). ANd I don't think it applies to foreign airlines, anyway. That EU law doesn't say they have to pay to put you on another airline.

A strike isn't an act of God, God didn't start the strike. However, I think the EU terms are about "extraordinary circumstances" which may exempt strikes. Maintenance issues are not extraordinary circumstances. But I don't think in the EU (or the US) any airline is required to put you on another brand of airline.

@Christina

Delta has rule 240.
Working at United,I myself got calls from their SLC office requesting for Rule 240 PROTECT on United especially in areas like Denver (Where UA has a good hold) and other areas like ORD.

I have myself got many passengers booked on Delta via Atlanta when UA flights took a bummer,whether it was out of ORD,SFO or EWR etc.

United I'd say had the best policy in these ,I still recall during those massive huricanes like the Irene and Sandy,we recieved an update from the Chicago HO that go ahea and get the Rule 240 done on case on case basis(meaning how serious or critical is for the pax to reach the destination on time) and United did honour it,even if it meant routing passengers via Toronto on Air Cannada.

@Ackislander

Thanks :)


But I'd still believe that a Strike within an organisation is the fault of the management and the passengers in no way should be suffering because of the neglegiance of the Airline Management.


Air France has had a good reputaion in the Market.Atleast in India,it is considered to be a good gateway to europe and many prefer it over the likes of British Airways,lufthansa and KLM Royal Dutch and Aerofloat.

The only down thing over the years that I have noticed is the fare structure of Air France,ie the fares being so restricted that once can not cancel the ticket and neither can make any modification to the travel plan.

@travelsis


Did you check the alternate routes and flight timmings possible if your IAD-CDG is cancelled by AF???


Check if you could take the IAD-ATL-AMS with Delta and KLM ,or if the same day IAD/DCA to ATL and then ATL-FCO/CDG.

I have looking for alternate flights as recommended by all of you. Since my final destination is Naples I can really fly into any European city that may have a way to get to Naples, by plane train or even car. An guy at the office thinks that maybe since we are booked on the big airbus flight on Saturday that may have the best chance of going because of the huge money loss that flight will cause to both major airports. Do you think he may have a point?

You may get to Paris just fine, but your onward flight could be cancelled. It is mainly flights within Europe that are affected.
Because of that the chance of getting a flight from Paris to Naples is slim.
Maybe you can fly KLM to Amsterdam and then to Naples, since they are the same company.

Travelsis

You can take a train from Paris to northern Italy (Turin or Milan or Venice) and then by plane or train onward to Naples. You can also take a train from Paris to Nice and then a flight to Rome. It might also be possible to take a train from Paris to Brussels or Amsterdam and get a flight to Naples (or Rome).


Satvik123 -- thanks for posting that info. I was familiar with EU rules but not the US ones.

travelsis


Your colleague has a point, Air France at this moment of time is bleeding because of losses courtesy this strike.

Well as of last night the flight to Paris is still scheduled to fly. I called AF USA (Delta agent) and got right through- amazing! He told me they believe that flight will go. I should know for sure today, according him they are informing passengers aprox 48 hours before if their flights have been canceled. Has anyone out there experienced this?

We are due to arrive into CDG at 5:25 am, there is a flight to Naples out of Orly that leaves at 10:50am do you think we could make this flight? 5 hours 25 min between flights on a Saturday morning. It would entail customs and baggage claim at CDG then the drive to Orly ( I would get a car service transfer) an then the check in process at Orly. Is this doable?

As long as your CDG arrival is on time, you can easily make your ORY connection. The AF Buses are running normally. Bus #3 takes you from CDG to ORY in about 1 hour. Cost is 21€ or 20€ if you prepurchase tickets:

http://www.lescarsairfrance.com/

Air France tells you 'they think that your flight will go', but that depends on the incoming flight, so they can't know that for now.
Check on the Air France site if the plane(s) has/have left CDG for IAD. And remember, there might be a lot of passengers already waiting to fly to Paris, if there haven't been any flights these last few days. So even if there's a plane, you might not be on it.
I know that sounds horribly negative, but that's the way it works.

Air France says on their site that scheduled departures may change up until the last moment, so even if 48 hours before your flight you have no message, it doesn't mean you are ready to go.

The only thing you can do for now is wait until you know if your flight is cancelled or not, and then have Air France handle the arrangements to get you to Naples. If you change your flight beforehand , I think all costs will be yours to pay.

There is some news going around that this strike might go on a bit longer...

We are also waiting this out, and have explored repositioning options on both Delta and KLM with very helpful AF agents. I have also been told that they have been trying to cancel and notify 48 hours out, and for our flight on Saturday (I have been tracking the flight number), they have done just that. Of course anything can happen. As of this morning, the flight had been cancelled for 4 days running, but shows it will fly both Friday and Saturday, so we are more cautiously optimistic.

I was to,d yesterday that if we change our flights to a partner airline,there will be no costs.

I think you have two potential problems,if your connection is also an AF flight. Our connection to Zagreb is on Croatia Airlines, so if we can just get to Paris . . .

Best of luck to us all.

Socal...I would agree with the opinion that the weekend flights with larger aircraft and probably more bookings originally and now with overflow will probably go but you will need a serious alternative upon arrival.

I just read those dreaded words..."may be extended past the 22nd"

Why do I need an alternative upon arrival? Our connection was booked through AF, but it is on Croatian Airlines to Zagreb. Croatian Airlines is not on strike as far as I know.

Traviata, any idea how long past the 22nd?

Extendable strikes can be extended as long as there are employees willing to strike.

sorry Socal...I had you confused with another person continuing to Naples on AF. No you don't or should not have a problem with that connection. Enjoy Croatia beautiful time to visit.