Air France announces over 5,000 job cuts

Air France has announced that it will be cutting over 5,000 jobs

The financially-troubled French airline wants to increase its profit margin by 20 per cent by the end of 2014 and this new measure was one way of achieving this target. 

The announcement of job cuts is in response to restricted growth prospects and rising fuel costs – impacts of the deepening economic crisis. It also comes as the new Socialist President, François Hollande, promises to increase the cost of cutting jobs in an effort to reduce layoffs. France's job rate has hit the highest level this century with the unemployment rate rising to 10 per cent  in the first quarter, up from 9.8 per cent.

Other competing airlines are also introducing similar measures, for example Air France's rival, Lufthansa, presented a plan last month to cut 3,500 administrative jobs. 

Air France is seeking to avoid firings and these new incentives of reducing workers within the company will include encouraging employees to take up early retirement, voluntary departure, part-time work and work sharing. 

However, they also claim that forced redundancies will be unavoidable if labour unions refuse to support the new demands. Unions will have until the end of the month to make their decision as to whether they will be backing the decision. 

France's new labour Minister Michel Spain told Europe 1 radio today that he supported talks between management and unions to save the airline. 

Katie Williams