Air France expects to cut 6,560 jobs from its workforce by the end of 2022 as part of its recovery plans.
The airline says revenue fell to 95 per cent for three months and at the height of the coronavirus crisis it was losing €15 million per day.
“Recovery looks set to be very slow due to the uncertainties regarding the health situation, the lifting of travel restrictions and changing commercial demand,” says a statement issued by the airline.
“In this way, even on the basis of ambitious recovery assumptions, Air France predicts that it will not see the same level of activity as in 2019 before 2024.”
Guaranteed loans from the French state – totalling €7 billion and including strong commitments to sustainability – will help it ride out the current crisis but the airline “must act with lucidity and responsibility,” it says.
Its transformation will primarily focus on changing its domestic business model and reducing its external and internal costs, including the downsizing of its current 41,000-strong workforce.
Of the 6,560 jobs it will axe, more than half are expected to come through natural departures such as retirements.
The Air France Group will additionally cut 1,020 jobs out of the current 2,420 at HOP!, its regional operation.
Its full ‘reconstruction’ plan will be presented at the end of July together with a wider plan for the Air France-KLM Group.