(CNN) French President Emmanuel Macron was facing a major test of his sweeping reform agenda with a series of strikes across the transport and public sectors on Thursday.

Air-traffic controllers, train conductors and teachers walked off the job furious at the government's planned labor overhauls, causing widespread disruption for commuters and travelers.

Only 40% of high-speed TGV trains and around a third of commuter trains were operating, CNN's Jim Bitterman reported from Paris' Gare Saint-Lazare railway station. Additionally, around 30% of flights from Paris airports have been canceled, mostly on short-haul routes.

Civil servants are also expected to protest a string of reforms -- including planned cuts to public-sector headcount by 2022 -- on Thursday, with hospital workers and teachers joining some 140 demonstrations around the country.

Thursday marks the first day of a three-month wave of industrial action by rail workers, who will strike on two out of every five days between April and June. More than 100 marches were planned across the country on Thursday. Unions are furious over plans to scrap jobs-for-life guarantees and generous retirement plans.

People disembark from a Paris suburban train at the Gare de Lyon railway station on Thursday.

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