PARIS (Reuters) – Air France (AIRF.PA) has cut goals for voluntary redundancies following the recent softening of restructuring plans and now targets just over 1,600 departures by early 2017, a source close to the airline said on Friday.
The new voluntary plan, communicated to unions earlier on Friday, involves shedding 1,405 jobs among ground staff and 200 among cabin crew, compared with previous targets of 1,823 and 890 respectively announced in December, the source said.
Pilots now face no voluntary redundancies, compared with a previous target of 280.
“The idea is that this voluntary departure plan should be the last,” the source said, adding that the Air France-KLM subsidiary hoped to add new pilots and cabin crew depending on the outcome of union negotiations to take place over the summer.
In January, Air France dropped a so-called ‘Plan B’ restructuring project with forced job cuts and tilted its plans towards growth in the wake of the slide in oil prices.
(Reporting by Cyril Altmeyer, Writing by Tim Hepher; editing by Michel Rose)
