Air France to End Dedicated Cargo Ops

No more AF Cargo as of 2013. Not clear what will happen to the fleet, because this article says they have 5 planes when AF says they have 11 planes...

Employees will be moved to passenger operations.

Article translated from French via Google:

http://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/2010/05 ... -cargo.php

Quote:

INFO LE FIGARO - The company will announce Monday its employees repatriation of services and staffing of the branch transportation of goods within the passenger activity. The unions see it as a step towards the disappearance of cargo planes.

Change of course for Air France. The company currently generates 26% of its freight aircraft in dedicated freighter aircraft, and puts the rest in the holds of passenger aircraft. Eventually, the entire cargo activity could be done by Bunker. This shift will be outlined Monday by the management of the company at a works council (EC). This announcement should be short staff.

According to our information, a supplementary agenda of the EC was released last week, two days after the publication of record losses of Air France. It provides for the transfer of the program organization of cargo flights (the teams that develop the schedules of flights) to business passengers. "The management of five cargo planes and their specificity is lost in the programming of over 100 long-haul aircraft, says a union official. This is another step towards the disappearance of cargo planes. "Contacted by Le Figaro, the management of Air France recognizes" work ", but denies any plans to abandon the cargo fleet.

Yet, according to unions of the company, this reform is already underway. The supply of transport by air cargo, which accounted for 47% of the total supply of cargo at Air France four years ago, is now more than 26%. In less than two years, Florence Parly, the boss of Air France cargo, reduced the fleet to dedicated freighter aircraft from November to May. Two of the remaining five aircraft will be returned to lessor ILFC in 2013.

Objective: fill the bunkers

Florence Parly, former Secretary of State for the Budget, has also initiated the adjustment of cargo (CAP). Its motto is staking everything on filling the holds of passenger aircraft. All the commercials are now mobilized around this goal. This strategy brings Air France model of British Airways and Lufthansa away from the model. The British competitor has more activity in its own cargo for years. It passes through an external provider, Global Supply Systems, which has three cargo planes. Lufthansa holds its next 19 cargo planes and has a subsidiary in common with DHL (AeroLogic), which has four units and will have 8 year-end.

This reduction of the canopy should allow the company to break free of this activity, which lost 660 million euros in two years. The loss of the cargo accounted for one third of those of Air France-KLM in 2009-2010.

This reform should not proceed smoothly. The great strike of 1993 was already part of the cargo industry. Pilot unions, the SNPL and UNPL have developed an alternative scenario to that of management. The SNPL works including a new "protocol driver". He negotiated at the time of the merger with KLM compartmentalized air operations of both partners. It thus prevents the crews of KLM to fly on aircraft operated by Air France and vice versa. A rethinking of the protocol and the merger of the freighter group, now scattered among Air France, KLM and Martinair subsidiary, would achieve significant synergies and thus high cost savings.

According to the pilots, should also develop partnerships: "We could already be close to Fedex as Lufthansa has done with DHL, rather than to sell our aircraft, a union official regrets. If the pilots, as the ground staff accept change, we can raise the ship. "