Four of the nine French air-traffic control unions said their members wouldn’t turn up to work until Thursday morning to protest the plan, which they fear will cost jobs.
The DGAC, the French civil-aviation authority, canceled half Wednesday’s flights through Paris-Orly airport, south of Paris, and 20% of flights through Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport, northeast of the capital. National carrier Air France, part of Air France-KLM SA, said it would cancel 80% of its short- and medium-haul flights at Paris-Charles de Gaulle on Wednesday in an effort to maintain all its long-haul flights from the airport.
The new European system will have six air-traffic control regions, instead of leaving individual countries to operate their own controls as they do now. The European Commission hopes the larger airspace blocks will improve air-traffic capacity, enhance security and lower the cost of air-traffic services.