Air France halts 50% of flights in savings row

AT LEAST half of all Air France flights around the world were cancelled yesterday as pilots began a week-long strike amid anger over jobs and operations being moved to a low-cost carrier.

A passenger walks though a deserted Lyon Airport yesterday. Picture: Getty

The company’s problems echo those faced by airlines across Europe as they face competition from budget carriers for short-haul flights, and cash-rich Gulf state planes on long-haul routes.

In the case of Air France-KLM, French labour law makes it complex and costly to make employees redundant or adjust contracts in times of financial trouble.

The carrier announced a plan last week aimed at saving €1 billion (£797 million) over the next several years, and said it will transfer much of its European operation and a number of jobs to its low-cost carrier Transavia.

Air France pilots’ unions have called the strike seeking better conditions under the plan.

Speaking to France Inter radio at the weekend, Air France chief executive Frederic Gagey said the strike, which could run until next Monday, would cost the airline between €10 and €15m a day.

Air France is urging passengers to change or postpone travel plans, estimating that it could only ensure 48 per cent of flights yesterday and just 40 per cent today.

The Paris airport authority said only half of Air France flights were operating out of Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports.

At Charles de Gaulle yesterday morning, crowds gathered at the Air France counter to try to change their tickets, and cancelled flights were removed from departure and arrival screens.

Austrian tourist Alice White said: “I thought that something was up when I saw that my flight wasn’t on the departures board. I hope that I will be 
back in Vienna in time to be at work.”

Air France said on its website it expected to operate just less than half of its flights yesterday but “last-minute disturbances are not excluded”.

The company said earlier this month it would move ahead with a plan to open new bases in Europe under its Transavia brand in a bid to recapture market share from low-cost carriers and Middle East rivals.

Budget carrier EasyJet is watching closely, and announced extra seats for passengers stranded by the Air France action.

Meanwhile, in Germany, a union representing Lufthansa’s pilots said they will walk off the job at Frankfurt airport today thus preventing departures by Germany’s biggest airline from its busiest airport.

The two sides are locked in a dispute over the pilots’ demand that Lufthansa keeps paying a transition payment for those wishing to retire early. The airline wants to cut those payments.

Other established European carriers have faced similar problems, with many struggling to adapt.

Scandinavia’s SAS, under pressure from budget airlines including Norwegian and Ryanair, was close to bankruptcy in 2012 when unions agreed to a $440m a year (£270m) savings package which included salary cuts and changes to work schedules and pension plans for employees.

SAS, which still has higher operating costs than its competitors in the region, has since intensified its savings effort.