Air France pilots in draft deal on low-cost domestic flights

PARIS (Reuters) – Air France-KLM has struck a tentative deal with French pilots to transfer some domestic services to low-cost subsidiary Transavia, as the airline group steps up restructuring in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, the main pilots’ union said.

A draft deal is “on the table” but has yet to be signed subject to approval by members, a spokeswoman for Air France’s main SNPL pilots’ union said, confirming a report by French daily La Tribune. Air France declined to comment.

The Franco-Dutch group aims to cut some 7,580 jobs by the end of next year as airlines struggle to weather the COVID-19 pandemic and a resulting slump in global travel.

Chief Executive Ben Smith is accelerating cost-cutting measures including the transfer of French domestic services from Air France and its HOP! unit to Transavia. The move requires changes to union agreements that currently bar the no-frills division from competing on domestic routes.

(Reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by Edmund Blair)