Because of the increasing number of daily issues affecting passengers and cabin crew, the Air France flight attendant union claims that circumstances onboard aircraft are becoming “cataclysmic.”
“While disconnected management prides itself on a new customer ambition, the reality of the job consists in the art and way of apologizing to them for the poor quality of the service offered.”
“Once in the air, good magicians as we are, we are not miracle workers,” the union slammed.
“Once in the air, good magicians as we are, we are not miracle workers,” the union slammed.
Passengers and cabin crew are reporting problems at the same time as Air France is launching a major marketing effort to advertise its “step upmarket” with a new Business Class seat and upgraded cuisine.
However, such enhancements do not appear to have yet made their way onto Air France planes. Catering issues have become a major issue in recent months, according to the union, while the amount of broken seats and other problematic onboard equipment has ‘exploded.’
Working conditions have deteriorated, according to the union, and these issues could become a key sticking point when their collective bargaining agreement is up for renewal soon.
However, the situation may worse before improving. Due to a shortage of available crew, Air France sent out a company-wide text message on Saturday asking flight attendants to postpone any vacation plans they had made for July and August.
Many of the challenges affecting Air France are affecting the entire airline sector, with the majority of the troubles coming from the airline’s slow ramp-up of operations after the end of pandemic-era travel restrictions.
Workers are growing increasingly ready to reclaim sacrifices that the business claimed were essential to survive the pandemic as the sector emerges from the crisis. British Airways has already threatened strike action, and tensions are increasing at a number of other airlines, including Ryanair and Lufthansa.
In 2018, a wave of strike action hit Air France over pay and working conditions. Before a long-term agreement was achieved, the anticipated cost of the walkouts topped €500 million.
