Air France strike

Old Sep 16th, 2014, 03:55 AM
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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?
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 05:55 AM
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You had better look into this NOW! The strike is supposed to last un Sept 22. And yes, US flights are impacted.
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 11:13 AM
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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?
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 11:17 AM
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The Dulles flight to Paris will go today, but, is cancelled tomorrow.....
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 11:24 AM
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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.
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 11:31 AM
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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?
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 12:05 PM
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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).
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 02:14 PM
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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.
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 03:01 PM
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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.
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 03:34 PM
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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.
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 05:00 PM
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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.
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 05:19 PM
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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..
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 05:31 PM
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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.
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 05:38 PM
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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!
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 05:40 PM
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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!
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 06:33 PM
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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.
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 07:27 PM
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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
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 12:17 AM
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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.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 02:03 AM
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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]
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 05:44 AM
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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
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