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Air France-KLM plans to cut more than 7,500 jobs in its French arm as the airline industry recovers from the coronavirus crisis.
Europe’s second-largest airline will cut 6,560 employees at Air France, with its French regional airline Hop! Losing 1,020 jobs, the company said Friday.
In a statement, the firm said: “Recovery appears to be very slow” due to uncertainties surrounding Covid-19.
The cuts will take place in the next three years.
The group also cited the lifting of travel restrictions and changing customer demand as a potential cause for concern in the future.
- EasyJet plans to close bases and cut staff
- German airline Lufthansa plans to cut 22,000 jobs
At the height of the pandemic, revenue fell 95% and Air France airline was losing € 15 million (£ 13.5 million) per day.
Air France does not expect activity to return to its pre-pandemic level before 2024.
The group’s flagship airline expects to have cut more than 6,000 jobs by the end of 2022, out of a current total of 41,000 employees.
“Natural outflows” such as retirements and self-employed employees are expected to account for about half of the reductions at Air France.
Its sister airline Hop! You will see 1,020 jobs cut in the next three years. It currently employs more than 2,000 people.
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Protesters at the entrance to an airport in Morlaix, western France
The company said: “Air France and Hop! Are working together with unions to implement plans that prioritize voluntary departures, early retirement agreements, and professional and geographic mobility.”
Air France also said a broader “rebuilding plan” would be presented in late July, along with one for the larger group Air France-KLM.
Union members and staff staged protests at various sites across France on Friday, including outside the company’s offices near Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport.
The French government has pledged billions of euros to support Air France-KLM and the aviation industry at large, as demand for travel has collapsed as a result of the coronavirus-related blocking measures.
Loans to Air France were contingent on the airline scrapping some domestic flights in a bid to cut its carbon emissions.
Other airlines have also been forced to take similar steps in anticipation of a long and slow return to past levels of demand.
EasyJet previously said that it may need to reduce the number of personnel by up to a third due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In June, Lufthansa said it planned to cut 22,000 jobs, and British Airways said in April that it could cut up to 12,000 jobs from its 42,000 workforce.
