Air France softens redundancy plan in exchange for deal with unions

AirAir France will cut less than a third of the 2,900 jobs it proposed in a previously published plan for 2016-2017 which triggered clashes with some staff, the chief executive of its parent company said on Sunday, reports The Guardian.

The job cuts in 2016 would be voluntary and heavier job losses in 2017 could be avoided if talks with unions led to an agreement on alternative savings measures by the beginning of 2016, said Alexandre de Juniac, chief of Air France-KLM.

The airline earlier this month presented a programme involving job losses and flight cutbacks after failing to get pilots to sign up to productivity measures that would have involved working more hours for the same pay.

The announcement of the cuts package led to scuffles during which senior managers had their clothes ripped.

Read more of this report from Reuters published by The Guardian.