Air France has announced that it expects to operate 41% of its flights today as the pilots’ strike continues into a second week. The airline operated just 38% of services yesterday.
The SNPL pilots union has extended the strike until Friday and may prolong it further since talks have broken down with management. Union leaders have called on Prime Minister Manuel Valls to intervene to try to resolve the dispute since talks have “reached a complete impasse" the SNPL said in a statement. "Management is playing for time, waiting for the movement to weaken," it added.
Transport Minister Alain Vidalies stated over the weekend that Air France and the pilots must agree a compromise. “The government wants the strike to stop," he told a French radio station. "There must be a positive approach in this situation, otherwise I think the fate of the company could be in question."
In a statement this morning, Frédéric Gagey, President and CEO of Air France said: "Air France has maintained constant dialogue with its pilots in order to reach an agreement to benefit the Group's growth and competitiveness. I deplore that our concrete proposals to reassure our pilots have not been met with a reasonable response as yet. On behalf of the whole Company, I would like once again to apologise to all of our clients and their families. We are doing all we can to help them."
Rather than wait for the outcome of the negotiation currently taking place with trade unions, Air France proposes that its customers reschedule their flights or exchange their tickets free of charge.
Regardless of ticket type, Air France is offering all its customers on flights operated by Air France between 15 and 26 September the opportunity to either modify their ticket to reschedule their flight, free of charge, or receive a voucher valid for one year on Air France or KLM flights for a rescheduling flight for after 8 October 2014.