Strikes by French air traffic control (ATC) workers are creating “unexpected and significant costs for all airlines”, easyJet’s boss said.
Kenton Jarvis, chief executive of the Luton-based carrier, warned that the industrial action is presenting “unacceptable challenges”.
Tens of thousands of passengers were disrupted when French ATC staff walked out on July 3 and 4 in a dispute over working conditions.
Flights to and from French airports, as well as those scheduled to fly over French airspace, were affected.
Ryanair said another strike on Wednesday disrupted the travel plans of 30,000 of its passengers.
Mr Jarvis said: “We are extremely unhappy with the strike action by the French ATC in early July, which as well as presenting unacceptable challenges for customers and crew also created unexpected and significant costs for all airlines.”
French ATC has been the leading cause of delays to easyJet flights since the start of the summer.
Mr Jarvis described the walkout in early July as “very, very disruptive” as it forced it to cancel 660 flights and cost it £15 million.
Around 70% of easyJet’s flights either fly to or from a French airport, or over the country’s airspace.
Mr Jarvis said the airline has “very strong measures in place to protect our operations”, and has improved its punctuality record, but “no measures will cope when French airspace effectively closes”.
He added: “What we have to do is demand that the French government steps in and really works with their ANSP (air navigation service provider) because it has been the worst performing air traffic control area in Europe, and they get ahead of it and do some long-term measures.
“More recruitment into the tower for controllers, protecting over-flying, using AI and data that’s available nowadays to improve the life of the controller.
“We’re asking for improved actions, but at easyJet we’ve made a lot of investment into our resilience.”
EasyJet has also taken a £10 million hit because of a recent increase in the price of fuel.
The company reported a headline pre-tax profit of £286 million between April and June.
That is an improvement of £50 million compared with a year earlier.
EasyJet said this was driven by strong demand and the later timing of Easter this year.
Its package holiday arm easyJet holidays recorded pre-tax profits of £86 million for the quarter, a £13 million improvement year-on-year.
EasyJet holidays is expected to deliver more than £235 in pre-tax profits for the year to the end of September, and a new “medium term target will be set”, the company said.
Mr Jarvis said: “We performed well in the quarter, increasing profits alongside improving operational performance which has boosted easyJet’s customer satisfaction scores, and we continued to see strong demand from our customers.
“EasyJet holidays remains on track to deliver more than £235 million of profits for the full year, and we see a positive outlook for the group for FY25 and beyond, as we continue to focus on progressing towards our medium-term targets.”
EasyJet said it carried 25.9 million passengers between April and June, up 2.2% year-on-year.
