Andy49

Air France are to cut 2900 jobs

brunos

I was reading this article published on 26 June:
http://www.lemonde.fr/entreprises/ar...5_1656994.html

Frankly, there is nothing new since that date. That is until AF really gets serious about layoffs. But that looks more like a very slow poker game.

San Gottardo

The sad thing is that you are right - about both the pilots and the politicians. Jee, they're not even professional enough for that.

I haven't read those articles but maybe it's related to the fact that proportionally stations like Marseille are far more over-staffed than for instance CDG. So they might cut down MRS workforce by 30% and CDG by only 15%. In absolute numbers there still would be more layoffs in CDG, but relative to current workforce the blow would be harder in other stations. That would then also be in line with their efforts to improve quality of their CDG-based offering and letting the Province stations become more "basic", it's HOP territory anyway.

But I am just speculating, maybe the authors of the articles that you wrote meant something else or had different information.

Goldorak

I don't know if it is related or not but it is public knowledge (was published in several papers some months ago) that the situation in MRS and Corsican stations is truly unacceptable with CGT and SUD unions acting like mafia and literally running (or I should rather say ruining) AF business there with plenty of useless staff (son of, friend of, etc), astonishing numbers of sick leaves, etc etc
So maybe AdJ has finally decided to clean the house for good (let's hope...)

brunos

It had also been repeatedly said that NCE was overstaffed and nepotism prevailed. With the switch to HOP, drastic cuts would be expected.

stimpy

The rumour I heard at AF last week, but didn't want to repeat in case it was wrong, was that most all those French bases outside of Paris would get switched over to contract workers. Seems that is going to be the case?

Rhone

Doesn't surprise me all that much, but do you have some (French-language) sources on this? I can't find much using Google.

Rhone

With contract workers, do you mean CDD contracts, but still on AF's payroll? Or via some intermediary companies?

brunos

I guess that the idea at outstations is to replace AF workers by fewer HOP workers.
I am not familiar with French labor laws, but that could be an uncertain legal fight for AF. Firing employees because AF does not fly anymore, although the business is transferred to a subsidiary is prone to be seen as a trick.

stimpy

I think it was intermediary companies, but we'll see.

Goldorak

Here's one I found from 2012 (there are 2 pages and the most interesting is on the 2nd page)
http://www.capital.fr/enquetes/homme...nt-fada-789301

q

Can somebody try to explain (to a non specialist, no economic background etc) how is it that planes are ~full and AF is "losing money" ? To me, a full plane means they sell too many cheap tickets, they could sell more expensive tickets instead. Is this really Optimzed so well that what appears as "full" is in fact only "almost full" and very well controlled and finely tuned, and the Models used for this are checked often enough ?

orbitmic

I have no doubt that there is some truth in all of the above, but find it hilarious that anyone would assume that this would be any different at CDG or ORY. If anything, I think that this would ignore the basics of the AF organisation. I have spoken to quite a few of the AF staff at NCE and BOD as well as ORY and CDG. The bottom line is that the vast majority of them have moved around. Most of the NCE staff, for instance, were at CDG or (more often) ORY before and then asked to move to NCE for lifestyle reason or to follow a partner. Similarly, many of the CDG and ORY staff I know were based somewhere else at some point in their career before moving to CDG or ORY for a promotion.

The whole notion that those airports work as self-sustained recruitment centres, however, "well known" strikes me as wholly unrealistic and more likely to follow from originally self-interested rumours than a realistic situation. It is a sad fact of life that much of France will buy any notion that xxx is corrupt in Marseille and/or Corsica and even Nice because it matches a widely held prejudice about something being rotten in the South. As we know, however, empirical research on corruption systematically fails to uphold this presupposition and time and again, finds that corruption as well as nepotism levels are in fact quite a lot lower than in the Paris region (very logically too as corruption typically correlates with stakes more than anything else).

So I am more than willing to believe that such processes are rife in the AF machine, but most likely not that it centres around Corsica, Provence, or the Cote d'Azur which strikes me as naïve at best.

stimpy

I don't think anyone says it is centered at those places, but that the percentage of abuse is too high there and correcting the problems there has proven to be too difficult.

I now remember a bit more of what was discussed and what I think is happening now is that the AF employees at those airports are being told to relocate to Paris rather than simply being fired. Obviously many of these people will not be able to relocate for family reasons or perhaps they prefer the weather and quality of life of the south, so they will quit in some manner. And some contract staff will come in to cover the necessary functions. That is after all the manifestations have worn out.

NickB

+1