Air France Chairman and Chief Executive Frederic Gagey said a planned pilot work disruption throughout most of next month will lead to extensive flight cancellations and could undermine efforts to generate an operating profit this year, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The French SNPL pilots union has notified the airline that its members will stop work at various times of the day from May 3 to May 30. The move “represents a real threat to all Air France staff,” Mr. Gagey said in an open letter to the labor group.
A walkout during the early morning hours will disrupt not just those departures but ripple throughout the day, Air France said in a statement. A planned operational hiatus in the early afternoon could lead to the cancellation of up to 30 of 70 long-haul flights the carrier operates, it said Tuesday.
“We have no other choice but to cancel flights despite the cost incurred to the company,” Mr. Gagey said.
The union is seeking concessions from the French government, including a cut to air-transport taxes and on the use of foreign pilots. Air France said it would be disproportionately affected by what is being billed as a national action.
A three-day pilot strike this month at Air France-rival Deutsche Lufthansa AG cost the airline about €75 million ($104 million). Lufthansa, like Air France, is in the midst of a turnaround plan.
Read more of this report from The Wall Street Journal.