Amid protests Air France to cut over 7,500 jobs

Staff protests over airline's response to pandemic

PARIS:

Air France confirmed plans to cut some 7,500 jobs including 1,000 at sister airline HOP! on Friday, as staff protested over its response to the collapse in travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. The French flag carrier, part of Franco-Dutch group Air France-KLM, said it had lost €15 million a day during the worst part of the crisis, which also saw its revenues plunge by 95%. It did not see traffic returning to 2019 levels before 2024. As a result, it plans to cut 6,560 or 16% of jobs at the main airline by the end of 2022, more than 3,500 of which will come through natural departures, it said after union talks. Another 1,020 jobs will go over the next three years at “HOP!”, representing 42% of staff at the regional carrier based in the coastal city of Nantes, which has also been hit by job cuts at planemaker Airbus. The French government - which granted Air France €7 billion ($7.9 billion) in aid, including state-backed loans, to help it to survive - has urged the airline to avoid compulsory layoffs, though it has conceded Air France is “on the edge.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2020.

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