French Easyjet strike forces 38 Friday cancellations
PARIS (Reuters) - Low-cost airline Easyjet's French operations have cancelled 38 mainly domestic flights scheduled for Friday in response to a two-day strike by cabin crews.
The carrier said it had cancelled 34 internal services to or from Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lille, Nantes, Nice, Brest, Paris Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports on Friday.
Four Milan and Barcelona flights have also been dropped and five services between London Gatwick and French airports delayed by up to 7 1/2 hours, Easyjet said late on Wednesday.
French cabin-crew unions called the Dec. 25-26 action to demand a larger share of Easyjet's French profits for employees and improved management of staffing rotas.
No services are affected on Thursday because the company already operates a reduced Christmas Day schedule, Easyjet said.
Staff voted to strike soon after the opening of annual negotiations on pay and conditions, according to the company.
"Easyjet remains open to discussion and committed to finding an appropriate solution with the unions," it said.
(Reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
