Julian Moxon/PARIS
AIR FRANCE Group president Christian Blanc has threatened the workforce of Air France Europe with the "disappearance" of the airline if Draconian measures to restore performance are not under- taken in the next two years.
At a board meeting on 25 April, Blanc left no doubt that the airline faces "disaster" because of the failure of the workforce to accept restructuring measures at a time when the competition is "becoming more aggressive every day".
Blanc is demanding urgent reductions in employment costs, along with a restructured route network and financial support from the French Government. The measures will be discussed with the unions on 15 May.
One year after domestic liberalisation, French airlines flying the once-monopoly-held routes of Air France Europe (formerly Air Inter) have taken large shares of the carrier's passenger traffic. Blanc says that Air Libert,, AOM and TAT have together attracted 38% of the Paris/Orly-Marseilles and Orly-Toulouse traffic, and 31% and 25% of Orly-Bordeaux and Orly-Strasbourg business, respectively.
Cost-cutting plans include voluntary redundancy of all pilots over the age of 55, and changes to salaries and conditions of work. The move is likely to fall foul of the unions, however, which called several strikes in February against earlier measures. Blanc also wants to increase the productivity of cabin crew by including them in the lower pay structure of Air France.
Similar efficiency improvements were attempted at the end of 1994 by previous Air Inter president Michel Bernard, but strike action ensured that they never saw the light of day, contributing also to the Fr500 million ($98 million) operating loss expected for 1995.
Changes to the route structure centre on the closure of loss-making domestic and European services and, from October, creating "shuttle" operations between the principal domestic routes, such as Orly-Marseilles. Air France Europe intends also to strengthen domestic connections from Paris/ Charles de Gaulle as part of the newly organised Air France network, in which the airport becomes a hub for interlining domestic and international routes.
Blanc says that Air France Europe risks losing Fr1.3 billion this year. "In less than two years, if nothing is done, the business will have consumed all of its reserves...this could plunge it into an irreversible spiral of market losses, closure of routes, abandoned slots and redundancies", he says.
Further pressure comes from the arrival of full European air-transport liberalisation in April 1997, when foreign carriers will be allowed to operate routes within France. Lufthansa and British Airways have made it clear that they intend to take full advantage of free access to the French market.
Source: Flight International
