Can Air France be saved?
Air France-KLM CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac has resigned over the pay dispute that has raged between the company and its pilots since early February. French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has accused the employees of acting irresponsibly and warned that the Franco-Dutch airline holding company could collapse. The media discuss ways out of the crisis.
State must let things take their course now
Only privatisation can help Air France-KLM out of its current crisis, economic analyst Nicolas Bouzou writes in Le Figaro:
“The Air France employees who rejected the Janaillac plan are spoiled brats. But they aren't the only ones who bear responsibility for this debacle. The company's management has long lacked any strategy to speak of. ... Air France can still be saved, but for that to happen the state must renounce the ownership which from the start prevented the company from developing as it should have. Hence I propose that the French state divest itself of the 14-percent stake in the Air France-KLM group it still possesses.”
Time for this unhappy marriage to end
De Telegraaf calls for the dissolution of the KLM-Air France merger:
“The KLM staff soft-pedalled on their conditions of employment and the result is clear, because KLM is making a steady profit. But the French section of the company is making huge losses. ... It is becoming increasingly clear that the marriage between Air France and KLM contracted in 2003 is not a happy one. ... Therefore the [Dutch] government needs to exercise its rights of co-determination. Now, one of the Netherlands' pearls, KLM, is being destroyed by French strikers. If intervening means saying goodbye to Air France, then so be it. Unhappy marriages end in divorce.”