French president Francois Holland, French prime minister Manuel Valls and transport minister Alain Vidalies have denounced the behaviour of disgruntled Air France employees who attacked human resources chief, Xavier Broseta, following the announcement of job cuts on Monday. They have also rejected calls from separate unions representing Air France pilots, cabin and ground crew for the state, which owns 17% of the airline, to step in to resolve the conflict.
“The state is a shareholder but we are not in a situation today where the solution will be nationalisation of Air France. The answer is no,” Vidalies said. “We are not in North Korea.”
Although the government’s fears foreigners could buy up the carrier, Viadalies said that it would be a “tragedy for our country if a business so symbolic were to find itself in trouble because a minority refuses to adapt to a changing world”.
“Its market value has shrunk to €2 billion from €7 billion, so it’s a company that is fragile,” he said. “The best French response would be to convey to those abroad who see a caricature, that these events are not France, and that we can get back on track by talking.