Crippling Air France strike set to spread

Air France, which has lost at least $320 million, operated just over half its flights yesterday. Photo / AP

The crippling strike by Air France pilots threatened to spread to cabin staff amid warnings that one of the great European flag-carrying airlines could disappear from the skies.

As the pilots' strike approached its 11th day - the longest in Air France history - other unions threatened to join the action unless the airline completely abandoned plans to create a Europe-wide, low-cost subsidiary.

The complex and bad-tempered dispute was muddled by conflicting statements from airline management and the French Government, its chief shareholder. Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said plans to create a European no-frills carrier to compete with Ryanair, easyJet and the Gulf airlines had been withdrawn. Air France insisted the plan had only been "suspended" until the end of the year.

Hundreds of ground staff and airport employees demonstrated against the strike at Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, accusing pilots of putting their privileges and relatively high salaries ahead of jobs in the wider French airline industry.

There were hopes Air France's senior management would bow to Government pressure and scrap its low-cost expansion plans at a meeting with unions today.

"Everyone knows some kind of similar plan must come forward eventually," one Air France union official said. "There's no way to compete with the low-cost carriers otherwise. But withdrawal of the plan today will at least give time for tempers to cool and let the planes fly again."

Cabin crew unions warned last night they would join the pilots' strike unless Air France backed down. Air France-KLM operated just over half its scheduled flights yesterday for the 10th day in a row. The strike is already said to have cost the airline over 200 million ($320 million). French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the strike was a real danger for the survival of Air France. After initially criticising the pilots, who fear crews will be hired at lower salaries in countries like Portugal, he has pushed to abandon the low-cost plans to allow fresh talks with unions.

Air France's controversial chief executive, Alexandre de Juniac, who has cut costs by 2 billion in three years, said the airline had no future without a bigger no-frills operation.

He wants to make Air France-KLM's existing low-cost operation, Transavia, a Europe-wide airline with over 115 planes. Otherwise, he said, Air France would continue to lose market share to budget airlines.

- Independent