Fresh stoppages loom as Air France strike hits 150 flights

PARIS: Air France canceled 150 flights in and out of Paris on Monday on the sixth day of a strike by flight crew, airport sources said, as unions warned of more disruption at the height of the holiday travel period.
The carrier said it would cancel some 10 percent of domestic flights Monday, but would maintain almost all long-haul services and 85 percent of its medium-haul flights from the main Charles de Gaulle hub.
Two cabin crew unions are demanding management extend a collective labor accord on rules, pay and promotions and have indicated more strikes are in the offing.
Christophe Pillet for the SNPNC-FO cabin crew union told AFP a further stoppage could come as early as next week, estimating up to 280,000 passengers would be affected by the past week’s stoppage, costing the carrier some 100 million euros ($111 million).
“We shall meet by the end of the week to decide on what course to take,” said Pillet as the company said it would operate 90 percent of flights on Tuesday.
“Management made the choice to break off social dialogue — we never closed the door on negotiation,” added Pillet of a dispute which saw management limit the extension of a labor accord expiring in October to 17 months rather than three to five years as the unions wish.
An Air France spokesman said that they had no indication of more stoppages in the pipeline and added cancelations were in line with forecasts.
A two-week stoppage in 2014 cost Air France an estimated 400 million euros.
Another one between June 11-14, right at the start of Euro 2016 football championships, cost around 40 million euros, the airline calculated.