Hi everyone,
I work as a long haul purser with AF, lots have been said about how bad AF/KL as a whole was dealing with the renegociation of its contracts. Our pilots or rather, their representatives, finally came to the negotiating table in late August. The rest of the unions kept saying they wouldn't come to the table as long as the pilots didn't sign the new deal, which indeed is rather aggressive for any airline, and for AF in particular, because close ties with the French government have historically prevented it from going deeper into the reform path.
One example of that is the airport of Marseille whihc is well known for being hugely overstaffed in regard to its traffic, where the CGT, France's most active union, has a strong influence. Each time AF has committed itself to putting an end to practices inherited from the old times of the state owned long gone era, the government, with its 16% stake, imposed both parties to compromise and compromise even more, depending on the general political moment of the country. Also because they were trying to prevent a disaster like the one of the Marseille Port Authority, which is largely due to the CGT's radical position and refusal to adapt to change.
The counter example of that is KLM, which is far more progressive with its negociations. They were, contrary to what most people might think at a farther starting point than us. Ref the multiple threads on how AF was dragging KLM down, how much better KL is on all accounts, which is absolutely not the perception that we have in our planes, considering what we hear from our clients, who for the overwhelming part tend to applaud the combination of both, the fact that we are different thus more efficient together and working with the double hub rather than favouring one culture, one hub and one product over the other.
But in the end, they are far better negociators and their unions are far more modern. Hence the result today, KL will probably grow while AF stagnates and shrinks, but the whole group is reshaping in favour of KL. I personnally have no problems with that. I am proud of working for AF/KL as one of the first global airlines that dared to jump into the consolidation game. I see lots of missed opportunities though, such as not establishing our headquarters and reporting our financial results in Amstelveen in the Netherlands, which would have saved us around 750 million euros in taxes and social benefit associated expenses.
So yes, today, as we fear for our jobs, I have a sour taste in my mouth, because the whole game is unfair. AF has always been asked to report and play by the offer and demand of course, by the liberal rules, while having to conciliate with the French governent requirements. Granted our position and our name are strategic, and our responsibilities are high. But so are our liabilities.
In the end, of course we all feel that for the first time, AF is right in going on with its Plan B, refusing to accept the utra rigid stand taken by the ridiculously intolerant and change-reluctant pilot union SNPL. At the same time, we are now all on the hot seat. Rather ironic for someone who makes a living out of a jumpseat!
Long live AF and congrats to KLM on this sad day