It seems that COVID-19 has hammered Air France hard, with over 7,500 jobs to be cut from Air France and HOP!
Air France Airbus A319 taking off from Birmingham Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
With a drop of 95% of revenue during the crisis and the recovery being very slow due to the changing picture of COVID-19, Air France predicts that it will not see the same level of activity as in 2019 before 2024.
Whilst the French state has stumped up loans amounting to 7 billion euros, this isn’t enough to prevent cuts.
So, where will the cuts fall?
- For Air France, there will be a reduction of 6,560 jobs by the end of 2022 out of a current total of 41,000. The airline hopes that most of these departures will be “natural” – with 3,500 estimated.
- For HOP!, with the network being downsized and fleet resizing 1,020 jobs will be cut over the next three years out of the current 2,420.
According to the airline
Air France and HOP! are working together with the unions to implement plans that give priority to voluntary departures, early retirement arrangements and professional and geographical mobility. Solidarity within the Air France Group will also be implemented with proposals for internal job offers to all employees whose position will no longer exist and who do not wish to be included in the departure plan.
Air France and HOP! will conduct these processes in a spirit of dialogue, and with responsibility and transparency around the challenges of rebuilding the Air France Group.
Challenges remain
With the desire to travel still varying and pressure from the French government to cut domestic flying (as part of the loans), Air France is cutting back hard to save money and resize itself.
And it seems as well as cutting aircraft from the fleet, it will sadly need to cut staffing levels too.
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