Health. They are demanding a pay rise: will the emergency medical service helicopter pilots soon go on strike?

Helicopter pilots from the French Airline Emergency Medical Service (SAMU) are threatening to go on an indefinite strike starting Thursday to demand improved working conditions and higher wages, the SNPL (National Union of Airline Pilots) announced on Tuesday. "We expect a movement that will be closely followed by the PNT (pilots and flight assistants) [...] and we expect that the majority of the fifty or so [French] helicopters will be shut down," said Silvain Gerbaud, president of the SNPL's helicopter section.

According to the union, France has approximately 200 pilots and as many technical crew members. French emergency medical service (SAMU) helicopter pilots are paid between 20% and 60% less than their European counterparts, according to SNPL estimates. Another union in the sector, the National Union of Civil Aviation Flight Personnel, estimates that a novice SAMU pilot earns €2,300 net for the equivalent of 35 hours, and can expect to earn €3,100 at the end of their career.

In mid-May, the SNPL had already announced a national strike between May 29 and June 4. But the union decided to extend the notice period indefinitely, dissatisfied with the dialogue deemed unconvincing with the Minister of Health Catherine Vautrin and her Minister Delegate Yannick Neuder .

The SAMU (Emergency Medical Services) uses helicopters primarily to transport patients to hospitals in emergencies when ambulances would take too long. These missions are carried out on behalf of hospitals by private helicopter companies. There are three main types: the French SAF and HBG and the British Babcock.