Air France pilots are threatening to go on strike, as reported by FlightGlobal. However, it’s not necessarily for the reason that you might think…
Air France pilots may strike over new government rules
The SPAF trade union (Syndicat des Pilotes du groupe Air France), which represents pilots at Air France, is threatening that pilots at the French SkyTeam airline will be going on strike on April 15-16, 2024. This strike isn’t due to any current labor issues between the union and company, but rather due to a new government bill that’s currently under consideration.
On April 9, 2024, the French parliament is considering imposing new restrictions on certain labor groups, whereby strikes would be prohibited over fixed periods, up to 60 days per year. Strikes are often timed to maximize the impact they have on customers, so the government’s goal is to presumably limit strikes over the busiest periods, especially in the transportation sector. I imagine that the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris may also factor into this.
These new restrictions could apply to the public transport sector. The union representing Air France pilots says it can’t accept these restrictions, which is why a strike is being threatened. The union argues that the new proposal confuses public transport and public service, and would relegate the country to an authoritarian state.
Air France deserves credit for its labor relations
I don’t closely follow labor relations at all airlines, aside from when there are strikes, or when something major is in the news. However, can we take a moment to recognize how good labor relations appear to be at Air France at the moment, at least based on the lack of any strikes involving a situation between the company and work groups?
Back in the day, one Air France work group or another was on strike whenever it was a day ending in “y,” while I don’t remember the last time we see a strike at Air France. That’s quite a contrast to what we’ve seen at Lufthansa Group lately.
I’ve long been impressed by Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith’s approach to labor relations. He did an amazing job negotiating a new contract with pilots at Air Canada back in the day, and it seems that he has taken a similar approach with labor groups at Air France (obviously in partnership with Air France CEO Anne Rigail, who has been doing an awesome job as well).
All too many airline executives take an “us vs. them” approach to labor, and view frontline staff as the enemy. Smith, meanwhile, at least from an outside perspective, has taken a much more collaborative of an approach.
I mean, when he was appointed to his current role, one of his first orders of business was cutting Air France low cost carrier Joon, and moving those employees to a more lucrative contract. Contrast that to Lufthansa Group, where Spohr’s only skill seems to be setting up new subsidiaries to cut labor costs as much as possible. He’s certainly not good at rolling out any new premium product, that’s for sure…
Bottom line
Air France pilots may be going on strike later this month for the first time in a while, and it’s not even due to any issues with the company. Rather, France’s government is proposing limits on strikes in the transportation sector, and that’s something that Air France pilots aren’t willing to accept. So they’re threatening to go on strike over strikes, as one does!
What do you make of this potential strike among Air France pilots?
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