French air traffic controllers walked off the job Tuesday. Air traffic controllers walked off the job across France as a four-day strike began on Tuesday, testing the patience of would-be travelers and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Unions called the walkout to protest plans to integrate European air traffic control across six countries — which workers fear will lead to losses of jobs and civil servant benefits. Eric Heraud, a spokesman for the French state-run civil aviation agency DGAC, suggested the controllers are acting out of fear. "This strike is a little bit disproportionate," because the French government is committed to keeping workplace protections, he said. Heraud said labor unions representing controllers in the five partner nations — Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland — all supported the integration plan.