Air France-KLM CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac said on Friday he would resign after staff rejected a pay deal, plunging the airline into turmoil amid a wave of strikes at its French brand that has cost the company 300 million euros (264.8 million pounds), reports Reuters.
In the job for less than two years, Janaillac had been battling to cut costs at the French national carrier to keep up with competition from Gulf carriers and low-cost airlines. But he ran into the same union resistance as his predecessor, raising questions over the airline’s capacity to reform.
Janaillac said he would resign in the days ahead after more than half of the staff at Air France who cast a ballot voted against the offer of a 7 percent increase over four years.
“This is an enormous mess that will only put a smile on the faces of our competitors,” Janaillac told a news conference.
He said he hoped his departure would spark “a more acute collective awareness” before leaving without taking questions.
Unions said they would stick with plans to strike on May 7 and May 8.
Air France-KLM earlier on Friday reined in its 2018 profit and growth expectations, partly due to the effects of the strikes, and said it was not able to take advantage of a good market environment for European carriers.
Air France needs to cut costs to keep up with leaner rivals in Europe. Profits at Dutch sister company KLM, which has cut costs, rose in the first quarter, contrasting sharply with losses at Air France.