Air France to run 76 percent of flights during strike

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA) - Air France will be able to operate only 76 percent of its flights on Friday due to a strike call by 10 unions of pilots, cabin crew and ground staff demanding a wage increase.

The carrier, which is part of Air France-KLM, said in a statement it expects to run 80 percent of its long-haul flights and 70 percent of its medium-haul flights operating to and from Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

It said it also expects to operate 80 percent of its short-haul flights at Paris-Orly and other provincial airports.

"Due to several Air France staff unions call for strike on Friday 30 March 2018, our flight schedule will be disrupted. On 30 March 2018, we expect to operate 76 percent of our flight schedule," the statement said.

The airline estimated that 31.6 percent of its pilots and just over 28 percent of its cabin crew will strike in a bid to pile pressure on management to increase staff salaries by 6 percent across the board.

The Air France management has put on the table a draft agreement providing a general increase of 1 percent to be paid in two stages.

Air France said it regretted the situation and that it was "making every effort to minimize the inconvenience this strike action may cause to its customers".

Similar industrial actions were held by the unions on Feb. 22 and March 23.