AIR FRANCE-KLM MARTINAIR (AF-KL-MP) has suffered and could continue to suffer from strike action by the pilots union, Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne (SNPL), over what Air Cargo Week understands is the development of the group’s budget airline Transavia France.
The strike will affect flights departing Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Paris Orly Airport until 22 September, but KLM and Martinair services were not impacted by the industrial action. Air France confirmed to Air Cargo Week that its cargo operations had been affected. The strike action may continue until 26 September, a meeting is being held on 19 September and is expected to discuss what the union does next.
On its website on 12 September, AF-KL-MP said: “We are implementing a cargo contingency plan to limit the impact of this action.” In the 12 September online statement, it added that the airline’s trucking services were not impacted and it was using Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to keep business moving.
However, neither AF-KL-MP nor SNPL would be drawn on what exactly the root causes of the disagreement are, the grievances or the road taken to the ongoing industrial action.
In a speech on 17 September by the president of Air France branch of SNPL, Jean-Louis Barber, to 300 pilots, he says: “Management thought they could ride out the storm and then have a free hand to put different employment contracts.”
He accused Air France of off-shoring jobs through the project.
