Originally Posted by
FD1971
It would be ludicrous to advise AF to rely on improving their product without cutting a certain amount of fat...
The idea of trimming the fat is great as long as it is coupled with some investment into improvement. Otherwise it's just short-sighted. Take the best scenario: trim off ALL the fat - fire everyone, sell the assets and everyone gets huge dividends.
Originally Posted by
FD1971
15-20 years to change the attitude of the service personel
I disagree. A lobotomy does not take 15-20 years
On a serious note though, that is NOT the case. With the right tools and investment a turnaround can be achieved in 1-2 years. I have a friend who did that for restaurants in 2 weeks - he'd go in and revamp the service culture and put the restaurant back on track. ADP is huge compared to a restaurant, and the staff are among the most awful on this planet, but it shouldn't take anywhere near 15-20 years.
Originally Posted by
FD1971
and billions of Euro to rebuild CDG to become a customer-friendly airport.
AF doesn't own CDG and it wouldn't be funded entirely by AF. It would be a very wise long term investment and if done correctly it might not be in the order of billions. (We're talking over many years anyway.) They can also move some flights to AMS if they can't get CDG to function properly.
Originally Posted by
FD1971
I fear AF is somehow synonymous for France in general. Some cuts are necessary in the near future and it will become very difficult to force them upon the workforce and French citizen...
Ah, yes, how I love to hear about CUTS! The reason why they are getting an earful about cuts is because the only cuts they are discussing are screwing the people at the bottom (
regular citizens in France / low-level airline employees for AF). Nobody wants to talk about taking money from those individuals and institutions who have it. Austerity has never been successful for countries and short-sighted cost cuts can be immensely detrimental to companies as well.