Tags:
Journalism of Courage
PARIS, June 9: Air France pilots continued their week-old strike today morning just a day ahead of the opening of the World Cup Football tournament. In the past few days, only one in every four Air France flights was scheduled for the day.
An offer by the pilots to take the controls of special flights to get fans with stadium tickets to the venues of the matches was not put into effect. Talks between representatives of the pilots unions and Air France management broke down over the weekend and there were no signs they would be resumed. The strike began a week ago when pilots walked out in protest to Air France plans to personnel costs for members of cockpit crews by 500 million francs (about $85 million ) per year. The 3,200 Air France pilots form about seven per cent of the airline’s total number of personnel. The strike has spurred competing airlines to increase their business by adding special flights. A 24-hour strike by railway train drivers that was set to begin this evening was expected to havelittle impact on the total transportation situation in France.
