AdP takes positive steps to aid ailing Air France

Troubles at Air France came to a head last week when scuffles broke out at a management meeting intended to discuss the raft of expected redundancies subsequent to the failure of the recent rounds of talks between the airline and unions. As part of Perform 2020 the airline has set itself the target of reducing running costs by up to €1.8 billion. Currently the airline is looking to reduce its workforce by some 5% or 2,900 jobs, including ground crew, cabin crew and pilots, while also trying to persuade pilots to increase their productivity by 17%, which would involve them working longer hours for the same pay.
In a bid to help aid fellow state-owned Air France, Airoports de Paris (AdP) who operate both Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports have agreed to reduce their costs (50.6 percent of ADP and 17.6 percent of Air France parent company Air France-KLM are owned by the French state.) This is good news for Air France who are responsible for half the traffic and a quarter of the sales at the two airports. The AdP chief executive, Augustin de Romanet has made it clear that he does not want to be held responsible for weakening the airline’s position. AdP has now indicated that new tariffs will increase at a slower rate when compared to that of the 2011-2015 period and will favor flying from Paris to international destinations. As of April 6th 2016, passenger fees on long-haul flights will be reduced and airlines with increasing traffic will not be required pay charges for new passengers.
To compensate for the reduced long-haul fees, AdP will raise their charges on low-occupancy short-haul and medium-haul flights. The intention here is to incentivize budget airlines to fill their planes and optimize their use of very limited landing slots landing slots. In addition, next year AdP will also be automating boarding for passengers, thus reducing the level of baggage handling charges Air France are currently responsible for paying.