Air France has offered an “immediate withdrawal” of plans to expand its low-cost subsidiary Transavia Europe, as it aims to bring an end to the costly 10-day pilots’ strike.
The airline has called on the striking pilots to accept the offer and “return to work immediately”.
“Our Transavia project is a 100 per cent pro-France project,” said Air France CEO Alexandre de Juniac. “It is about developing Transavia to encourage growth in France and quickly create more than 1,000 jobs in France.
“With the withdrawal of the Transavia Europe project, there is now no reason to strike because there are no longer any concerns about relocation,” he added.
The strike started last week and is costing the airline around €15 million a day as more than half of the airline’s pilots are striking. This has forced Air France to cancel around 60 per cent of its scheduled flights each day.
Pilots are striking after Air France announced it is aiming to transfer most of its short and medium-haul services to Transavia. They fear that plans would erode their pay and conditions. Unions had threatened to prolong the walkout indefinitely if management pressed ahead with the strategy.
Air France has also proposed to further develop Transavia France in “competitive economic conditions” accompanied by the “safeguards” already discussed in the negotiations to promote a “rapid resolution of the conflict”.
De Juniac said last week that the expansion of Transavia was crucial for the future of the airline as it attempts to fight competition from low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and Easyjet.
AirFrance.com