Air France-KLM

The chief executive of Air France-KLM, Alexandre de Juniac, has said that it may be possible to avoid the airline’s planned restructuring — with its loss of 2,900 jobs — if negotiations with the unions “conclude rapidly”.

It was the threat of these job losses that was under discussion at the meeting of the central workers council when two senior managers at the company had their shirts ripped off by angry employees. The management at Air France-KLM argues that the plan for the job losses represents its fall-back position, and that it would prefer to adopt the proposals it presented earlier to the unions, known as Perform 2020.

These involve an increase in the number of flights flown by its pilots, of between 14% and 18%, with no increase in pay — a plan rejected by the pilots’ union SNPL. Senior management has met representatives of all the unions involved, but it is not clear if an agreement will be reached.