Air France management can certainly breathe a sigh of relief. Its Boost project, i.e. the launch of a discount airline which was one of the cornerstones of its Trust Together growth plan, has received the backing of its pilots. On 20 February, 58.1% of them voted in favour of its creation, for a participation rate of 73.8%.
Even with the pilots' vote in favour, Air France, which hopes to launch the first flights of its new airline in autumn 2017 to medium and long-haul destinations, is not yet at the end of the road. The Bureau of the SNPL Air France emphasises that this favourable vote " in no way gives a blank cheque to the text proposed unilaterally by Air France management. " Philippe Evain, the company's Chairman, who had previously spoken out against the project, stated that "we will continue to study the project in this new context and work to ensure that it is conducive to growth, including solid guarantees for Air France pilots".
A resumption of negotiations will probably be necessary in order to establish a compromise between Air France management, its pilots and its cabin crew. All the more so as the Syndicat National du Personnel Navigant Commercial -UNSA PNC is still up in arms against this project. "We have decided to withdraw our support for these pseudo-negotiations, as they are in fact already over."As the unions pointed out in a press release yesterday.
