Air France to face possible strikes during year-end holidays

Air France-KLM’s French arm faces possible strikes throughout the year-end holiday as workers step up pressure to adjust salaries in the face of spiraling inflation. 

Two Air France cabin crew unions issued a strike notice from Dec. 22 to Jan. 2, according to statements posted on their websites on Wednesday. 

Air France said it questions the logic of the strike notice, given new salary negotiations are already underway and will continue beyond January, a spokesman for the group said by email. The carrier “will pursue dialog” with worker representatives in the same way it has done previously, he said.

The possibility of disruptions at Air France comes at a time European carriers have struggled to expand their services amid rising travel demand, while airports like Amsterdam’s Schiphol and others in the UK. grapple with labor shortages. Air France was successful in avoiding strikes in recent months during a summer of chaos for travelers throughout Europe. 

Other companies in France also faced disruptions recently in a series of protests against the rising cost of living. Strikes by oil refinery workers disrupted fuel distribution last month, causing shortages at filling stations across the country. Thousands of people joined demonstrations in Paris on Oct. 18 to demand a bigger share of corporate profits.

Air France-KLM dropped as much as 15% in Paris trading, its biggest decline in more than two weeks. The stock also came under pressure after the company began selling €300 million ($312 million) of bonds convertible into shares, part of an effort to repay government aid issued during the coronavirus pandemic.