**A damning Senate report** The French Senate's Finance Committee has published a scathing report on the state of air traffic control in France, labelling the situation 'worrying'. According to their calculations, France accumulated 6.6 million minutes of flight delays in 2025, resulting in an estimated €800 million loss for airlines, not to mention passenger inconvenience. The report states that France is 'the least performing' in Europe on this metric, despite managing one of the busiest airspaces on the continent. Senators point to a 'too rigid allocation' of controller staffing, which fails to account for daily, weekly, and seasonal traffic variations. They also highlight the 'obsolescence of the technical architecture' and the difficulty of modernisation projects despite significant investments. **Minister admits failures** In response, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot publicly accepted the criticism, admitting that the system is not up to the required level. 'We often talk about it — air traffic control that must modernise, that must improve its performance for the benefit of the entire aviation system,' he declared at the congress of the National Federation of Aviation and its Professions (Fnam). The minister thus aligns himself, at least in part, with the Senate's diagnosis, acknowledging that delays penalise both airlines and passengers. However, he insists that corrective action is underway. 'I have launched a real in-depth reform with our teams, notably through recruitment, greater flexibility to strengthen teams during peak traffic, and a transformation of work organisation. This is no small feat,' he explained. **Claimed progress on delays** According to the minister, the situation is starting to improve. 'The situation is getting better,' he assured, citing data from the first five months of the year: 'Delays have dropped by 35% after last year's horribilis, even as traffic continues to grow.' He also highlighted the traffic levels controlled in 2026. In June, France broke its monthly record for controlled air traffic, usually reached in July or August, which he said demonstrates increasing capacity. To illustrate the pressure on controllers, he noted that 'the number of flights arriving and departing from France has decreased since 2019,' while 'the number of overflights has increased by 15% between 2019 and 2025.' **Impact on airlines and passengers** Beyond macroeconomic indicators, the Senate report and other studies remind us of the concrete impact of these dysfunctions on airlines and their customers. The 6.6 million minutes of delay in 2025 translate into direct costs for carriers — extra fuel, crew repositioning, potential compensation — and chain disruptions for passengers. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) notes that flight delays due to air traffic control have more than doubled in Europe over the last decade, specifically targeting France and Germany for their staff shortages and capacity limits. In this context, France's poor performance appears as one of the weak links in a system already strained by traffic growth and operational constraints. **Structural challenges ahead** The Senate's criticisms echo those voiced for years by airlines and professional organisations. They converge on the need to accelerate the modernisation of technical tools and to thoroughly revisit the work organisation of French air traffic controllers. Philippe Tabarot affirmed that the reform underway must address these long-term challenges. He insisted that the planned changes — recruiting, making schedules more flexible, transforming organisation — can only produce effects in the medium term and require dialogue with the teams. He stressed his determination to improve 'performance for the benefit of the entire aviation system,' explicitly referencing the senators' conclusions.