- Airline expects French industrial action and higher fuel costs to weigh on profitsÂ
The chief executive of EasyJet is ‘extremely unhappy’ after the airline was forced to warn investors industrial action by French air traffic control would weigh on profits this year.
Kenton Jarvis told investors on Thursday French unions had presented ‘unacceptable challenges for customers and crew’ and ‘created unexpected and significant costs for all airlines’.
It follows comments from Ryanair Boss Michael O’Leary who said air traffic controllers were ‘holding European families to ransom’ after the budget airline was forced to cancel more than 170 flights and disrupt 30,000 passengers earlier this month.
French transport minister Philippe Tabarot has condemned the actions of two unions that staged a two-day strike over working conditions, leading to a quarter of flights being cancelled at the main airports in Paris.
EasyJet’s Jarvis said on Thursday: ‘We are extremely unhappy with the strike action by the French air traffic control in early July, which as well as presenting unacceptable challenges for customers and crew also created unexpected and significant costs for all airlines.’
The comments took the shine off an otherwise positive third quarter update, which revealed a £50million year-on-year profit improvement to £286million, ‘driven by strong demand for easyJet’s primary airport network and benefits from the timing of Easter’.
Unhappy: Kenton Jarvis told investors on Thursday French unions had presented ‘unacceptable challenges for customers and crew’
EasyJet said the outlook for rest of the year ‘remains positive, with good profit growth’, but warned earnings would face pressure from French strike action as well as higher aviation fuel costs.
It has forecast a hit of around £25million to profit for the year ending September.
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 shares were down 6.4 per cent to 492.1p in early trading, taking 2025 losses to 12.8 per cent.
The warning dragged rival airline stocks lower with British Airways owner IAG falling by almost 2 per cent. Â
Zoe Gillespie, wealth manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin, said: ‘Demand for holidays remains remarkably high, despite softening consumer sentiment in the UK and in Europe.
‘However, it is not all plain sailing – industrial action, fuel price increases, and steep competition will undoubtedly cause turbulence in the months ahead.
‘But, with a solid balance sheet, EasyJet is in a much better position than many of its competitors to navigate through any stormy conditions, provided it can maintain its operational efficiency and cost discipline.’
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