Air France strike hits holiday travellers

A strike is grounding planes in France during a busy holiday weekend.

Air France has cancelled about one in five flights after attendants began a five-day strike over employment conditions.

There is also a warning of wider disruption, causing tempers to rise.

One woman said: “I didn’t receive an SMS message, I wasn’t alerted, so we came on time. I have a little two-year old girl so I can’t wait all day long or all afternoon. And now there’s no explanation.”

A man said: “We arrived at 7 this morning for a flight at 2pm, and now we’re on a flight at 7. So between arrival and departure that’s 12 hours in the airport. And there’s no guarantee we’ll be leaving.”

Air France had earlier said it was hoping to maintain about 80 percent of its flights at the two main airports in Paris.

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