Air France strike drags on for 12th day as talks break down
The Air France pilots continued their strike for a 12th day on Friday despite management after talks to end the dispute failed again.
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According to Air France 58 per cent of its pilots were on strike on Friday, despite concessions from management, which scrapped plans to expand the low-cost operation Transavia across Europe.
"The situation is blocked right now," said Julien Duboz, the spokesperson for the SPAF pilots' union after talks on Thursday ended with no resolution to the dispute.
"This was a necessary condition but not enough" to stop the strike, said Guillaume Schmid for the larger pilots' union, SNPL.
Air France management agreed on Thursday to scrap the development of Transavia abroad but not its development in France and the Netherlands.
Currently Transavia is serving holiday destinations in Europe and around the Mediterranean.
Pilots fears that some Air France flights could be replaced by services operated by Transavia.
They also request a "single contract" across Air France-KLM and their operations, such as Transavia, as they fear to be forced to work on less attractive conditions at Transavia.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls has called several times for the strike to end and warned that it was putting Air France's future in danger.
In a poll published on Thursday by LCI/OpinionWay, 69 per cent of the survey group considered the strike unjustified.
More talks were to be held on Friday.
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