PARIS: France’s main flag carrier on Monday expressed determination to go ahead with its plan of massive layoffs and flight reductions in order to boost the company’s financial standing.
As part of its cost-cutting program, the French company said it would cut 2,900 jobs by 2017, including 1,700 ground staff, 900 cabin crew, and 300 pilots.
It also planned to reduce the long-haul business by 10 percent over the period with a major focus “on routes where losses are the highest, serving principally Asia and the Middle East.”
All these measures were “vital to ensuring the long-term future of Air France and allow it to finance its growth”, according to Alexandre de Juniac, chairman and chief executive officer of parent Air France-KLM.
Earlier in the day, angry staff stormed a meeting of Air France managers, forcing them to suspend talks.
The chaos at the flag carrier’s headquarters at Charles de Gaulle airport left seven people wounded with one of them in serious condition, the news channel BFMTV reported.
Air France-KLM said it planned to take legal action over the “aggravated violence” carried out against its managers.
“The group strongly condemns the physical attacks which were perpetrated by particularly aggressive isolated individuals,” it said in a statement.
Under its Perform 2020 plan, Air France eyes to trim 1.5 percent in unit costs per year between 2015 and 2017, and to report positive free cash flow every year.
