France strike, 5 November 2026: flights, airports and your rights

Published: October 26, 2026 · Last updated: October 26, 2026

France's five main unions are calling a national day of strikes and demonstrations on Thursday 5 November 2026, against the 2027 budget and for higher wages and pensions. Flights are affected if air traffic controllers, who are covered by the public-sector strike notices, or airport and airline staff join: on 29 September, the last such day, the DGAC had airlines cancel up to 25% of flights at Marseille-Provence and 5% at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Public transport to the Paris airports may also be disrupted. If your flight is cancelled, you are always owed a refund or another flight and care; compensation of €250 to €600 depends on who strikes and when you were told.

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What is planned

The CFDT, CGT, FO, Unsa and FSU unions issued a joint call on 5 October for a day of strikes and demonstrations on Thursday 5 November 2026, open to private-sector employees, public servants, pensioners and students. They oppose the government's draft 2027 budget and want higher wages, a higher minimum wage and better pensions. Public-sector unions have filed 24-hour strike notices. In French public services, a notice must be filed at least five days ahead, so by Friday 30 October.

What it means for flights

Flights are affected only if the people who run them stop work: air traffic controllers, airport and security staff, or airline employees. French air traffic controllers are civil servants employed by the DGAC, so the public-sector strike notices for 5 November cover them. Since a 2023 law, controllers taking part must tell their employer by noon two days ahead, so by noon on Tuesday 3 November; the DGAC can then ask airlines to cut a share of their flights at the airports concerned, and the airlines choose which ones. That is what happened on 29 September, the last public-sector strike day: the DGAC asked for 25% fewer flights at Marseille-Provence from 16:00 to midnight and 5% fewer at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, with delays or cancellations at Nantes, Strasbourg, Limoges, Tarbes-Lourdes and Pau. Airlines must inform passengers at least 24 hours before the disruption.

Getting to Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Orly

Trains, the RER and buses to Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Orly may run less often if rail and Paris transport staff join the strike; as of 26 October their plans were not settled. Allow extra time. If you miss your flight because the train or bus did not run, the airline owes you nothing under EU rules, which cover the flight, not the journey to the airport.

The 14-day line: 22 October

Compensation for a cancellation depends first on when you were told. For a flight on 5 November, if your airline told you on or before 22 October, no compensation is owed, although a refund or another flight still is. Any cancellation announced from now on falls inside the 14 days, so compensation may be owed, depending on the cause (next section).

Who is striking decides whether compensation is owed

When air traffic controllers, airport or security staff stop work, the cause lies outside the airline: it is generally treated as an extraordinary circumstance, and the fixed compensation is usually not owed. When an airline's own staff strike over their own pay and conditions, the Court of Justice of the European Union holds that this is not an extraordinary circumstance (Airhelp v SAS, C-28/20, 2021). Whether the same applies when airline employees join a national strike against government policy has not been decided; we assess each case on its facts.

Your rights if your flight is cancelled

Whatever the cause, the airline must offer you a full refund within 7 days or another flight to your destination. While you wait, it must provide meals and refreshments and, if you have to stay overnight, a hotel and transport to it. Where compensation is owed, it is per passenger:

€250 up to 1,500 km, such as Paris-Orly to Nice (about 680 km);
€400 from 1,500 to 3,500 km, such as Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Athens (about 2,110 km);
€600 over 3,500 km, such as Paris-Charles de Gaulle to New York JFK (about 5,830 km).

If your flight is delayed

If you reach your destination 3 hours or more late, the same amounts can apply (Court of Justice of the European Union, Sturgeon, C-402/07, 2009), and the same question of cause decides. What counts is when the aircraft doors open on arrival (Germanwings, C-452/13, 2014).

What to do now

Check your booking in the airline's app, especially from the evening of 3 November, when any request by the DGAC to cut flights would be known, and keep every email or text message about a cancellation or a new time: the date you were told matters. If your flight is cancelled, choose between the refund and another flight, keep your receipts for meals and the hotel, and check your flight with us: it takes two minutes and costs nothing unless we win.

Frequently asked questions

My flight is on 5 November. Will it operate?

As of 26 October, no cuts had been announced. Check your booking from the evening of 3 November: controllers must declare by noon that day, and on 29 September the DGAC announced its cuts the evening before the strike. Keep any message from your airline.

What happens if air traffic controllers join the strike?

The DGAC can ask airlines to cancel a share of their flights at the airports concerned, as it did on 29 September, and the airlines choose which ones. A controller strike is generally an extraordinary circumstance: a refund or another flight and care are owed, but compensation usually is not.

I missed my flight because the train to the airport did not run. Can I claim?

Not under EU rules: the airline is responsible for the flight, not for getting you to the airport. Check whether your travel insurance covers a missed departure.

If my flight is cancelled because of the strike, am I owed compensation?

It depends on who struck and when you were told: not if you were told on or before 22 October; usually not for air traffic controllers or airport staff; possibly for the airline's own staff, a question the courts have not settled for strikes against government policy. A refund or another flight, and care, are owed in every case.

Official sources

The texts this page is based on:

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