AIR FRANCE PRESIDENT Christian Blanc has renounced long-standing agreements with pilots of subsidiary domestic carrier Air France Europe (the new name for Air Inter) risking further strike action at the airline.
Blanc wants to bring Air Inter Europe into line with the existing union agreements with Air France before April 1997, when the carrier takes over its European routes.
He is also looking for a 30% increase in productivity, regarded as essential if Air Inter Europe is to compete with the liberalised French airlines.
A recent audit also showed that the French carrier has flightcrew salaries some 90% higher than those of Lufthansa, which will be allowed to compete on internal French routes from 1 April, 1997.
Air France Europe management is asking the crews to increase the maximum number of flights per day from four to five, and to increase the working time per day by reducing rest periods.
Other areas, such as the way in which non-flying working time is calculated, are also under scrutiny. Taken together, the measures, if accepted, would improve productivity by around 12% this year.
French law governing changes in union agreements allows Blanc just 15 months to tie up a new accord. French transport minister Bernard Pons has come out in support of Blanc.
"The workforce must understand that the future of the airline depends on a unified effort."
Source: Flight International
