Air France strike to hit foreign flights

Source: Xinhua | 2018-02-22

HALF of Air France’s long-haul flights out of Paris today will be canceled due to a strike by pilots, cabin crew and ground staff, the carrier said.

The airline said yesterday it expected to maintain 75 percent of its scheduled service but only 50 percent of its long-haul flights and advised travelers to postpone their trips until February 27 at no extra cost.

The staff are demanding a 6 percent across-the-board pay increase.

Management is offering a basic increase of 1 percent to be paid in two installments and a range of incentives, which trade unions have dismissed as “small change.”

The Air France-KLM group posted a 42 percent increase in its operating profit to 1.49 billion euros (US$1.84 billion) in 2017.