Violence flared at an Air France
staff meeting on Monday, and a senior executive had his shirt torn off by
protesters, as the airline set out plans to cut thousands of jobs — including
the first forced dismissals since the 1990s.
A scuffle broke out after
demonstrators stormed a room at the group’s headquarters at Charles de Gaulle
airport where Air France management was outlining 2,900 job cuts, or 5 per cent
of total staff.
Xavier Broseta, head of human
resources, had the shirt ripped from his back by an angry crowd as he made his
way out. He was forced to climb a fence to escape, wearing only a pair of
trousers and a tie.
“I could not believe it, they just
started attacking,” said one person close to the unions, who was at the scene.
“He looked really shocked as he was rushed out by security over a fence,” he
said.
Manuel Valls, the French prime
minister said he was “outraged by the unacceptable violence by demonstrators at
the fringes of Air France works council.”
Monday’s incident highlighted the
strength of feeling against the proposed cuts, which many industry analysts
regard as a last chance for Air France to cut costs and fight back against
budget airlines in Europe as well as Middle East long-haul carriers.
It came after the company — which
last year reported a net loss of €198m — outlined its so-called ‘Plan B’: a
restructuring plan that would involve mandatory redundancies and cutting the
jobs of 300 pilots, 900 flight attendants and 1,700 ground staff.
Air France management put forward
the plan after failing to win approval with the main pilots union for its
so-called Plan A, a softer restructuring plan that would have seen pilots work
more hours.
Plan B will also reduce the Air
France fleet by 14 aircraft, cut capacity on intercontinental routes by 10 per
cent over two years, and cancel orders for Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Despite having cut nearly 9,000 jobs
in three years, the airline is looking for new ways to find €1.8bn in savings
over the next two years, as part of its Perform 2020 plan. At the same time, it
is developing its low-cost Transavia operations.
The unions on Monday said their
members were being asked to pay the price for a flawed management strategy,
saying they want to see a growth plan before discussing pay reduction or job
losses.
“We want an aggressive plan to
capture growth, not something that is simply following the other airlines in
Europe,” said a spokesperson for the SNPL union. “At the moment, it is only
about firing people.”
An opinion poll in Le Parisien
newspaper last month found that 71 per cent of people regard the pilots as a
privileged group, and 64 per cent believed they complain too much.
Despite that, the pilots have some
internal support. Members of other trade unions, including the CGT and the FOA,
joined pilots in a protest outside the Charles de Gaulle airport on Monday.
Protesters, many of them in
uniforms, demanded the retention of staff jobs and the sacking of Frédéric
Gagey, the Air France chief executive. Many wielded placards saying “Fire
Gagey” and “Plan D? Fire the director!”
Mr Gagey escaped Monday’s incidents
unharmed but Pierre Plissonnier, the director of the Air France hub at Orly
airport, had his shirt and jacket torn.
Air France will file a complaint for
“aggravated assault” against “isolated individuals” behind the attack. FNAM,
the main airline industry union, also condemned the attack.
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| Xavier Broseta, head of human resources for Air France, had his shirt ripped from his back by demonstrators |
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| Director of Air France in Orly Pierre Plissonnier was also attacked by several hundred employees who invaded the airline’s offices |
edited from The Financial Times
