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Air France-KLM boss steps down

May 4, 2018

Air France-KLM Chief Executive Jean-Marc Janaillac has announced his resignation after employees at the carrier's French operations rejected a pay deal aimed at ending weeks of painful strike action.

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Jean-Marc Janaillac, Air France-KLM
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G.v.d. Hasselt

Air France-KLM CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac said Friday he would step down "within days" after staff at the carrier rejected a company pay offer aimed at ending a series of strikes in recent weeks.

Airline officials said 55.4 percent of employees voted against the pay deal that included a 7-percent pay rise over four years.

Unions kept holding out for a 5.1-percent increase in wages this year alone to make up for a pay freeze and inflationary effects since 2012.

"I hope my departure will enable people to take stock and to start on creating the conditions for a recovery," Janaillac said in a statement Friday.

Operational losses a headache

The airline, which emerged from a tie-up between Air France and KLM Royal Dutch in 2004, earlier on Friday released quarterly earnings figures, announcing losses for the first three months of the year.

Operating losses grew from €33 million ($39.4 million) in the first quarter of 2017 to €118 million in the same quarter this year.

Strikes in recent weeks were responsible for huge additional in losses, the company said, with further industrial action planned for May 7 and May 8.

The first-quarter losses came despite strong customer demand, with passenger numbers up by 5.2 percent to 22 million in the January-to-March period.

Lufthansa upbeat despite half yearly loss

hg/jd (dpa, AFP)