Air France agrees job cuts with 3 unions

Three unions representing ground staff have agreed to plans by Air France to slash over 5,000 jobs by 2014 as part of a vast plan to make the struggling airline profitable, sources said. The labour union sources said the CFDT, CFE-CGC and FO unions signed onto the deal, which will see the workforce shrink by 10 percent through voluntary departures and job reassignments. The signatures ensure the accord will have sufficient support to be adopted, even though the main union among the 32,000 ground staff, the CGT, has refused to sign up. Discussions with unions for pilots and cabin crew are ongoing but should wrap up by July 15. Air France has promised not to resort to dismissals until the end of 2014 if employees agree to the plan, which also includes wage freezes and other cost cutting measures. The Franco-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM launched a major cost-saving programme after posting a loss of 809 million euros ($1.0 billion) for 2011 and a first quarter net loss in 2012 of 368 million euros. The Transform 2015 plan aims to restructure the short- and medium-haul segments to make them more competitive and a refocus towards high-end segments.