MOSCOW, September 14 (RIA Novosti) – Air France will cancel about 60 percent of its flights on Monday as pilots announced one-week strike against the airline company’s planned restructuring, Reuters reported on Saturday.
The company would incur large financial losses about 10-15 million euro a day and lose the trust of its customers, as many of them will be asked to change their tickets or cancel paid trips, the news agency reports.
On Thursday, Air France announced a plan to increase the size of its low-cost subsidiary Transavia in order to reduce the company’s costs and increase its competitive position on intra-European routes. The decision caused waves of discontent among many Air France pilots, who objected to moving popular routes to Transavia, where pilot’s salary is much lower.
Transport strikes, which have a negative impact on transport infrastructure and undermine travel plans of thousands of people, are not an unusual practice among French citizens. At the end of June, France faced its longest rail strike in the past few years that posed a serious threat to the tourist industry at the height of the summer holiday season. A series of other ‘Air France’ workers strikes took place in June and August. They resulted in flights cancellation and affected transport services of other European airline companies.
The announced protest will take place from September, 15 until September, 22. Over 3800 pilots are planning to take part in the strike. Mass flight cancellations are expected to be unavoidable.
