Air France to Axe 2,800 Jobs to Cut Costs

Air France plans to cut 2,800 jobs through voluntary redundancies in order to cut costs.

The airliner, a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group, announced the move as part of its Transform 2015 restructuring programme, which has already involved the planned departure of more than 5,000 staff.

The move amounts to a 4% reduction in the total amount of Air France employees.

"[A] return to [financial] equilibrium requires the deployment of all action plans and the completion of Transform 2015, which requires additional measures to reduce costs and accelerate the recovery of short and medium-haul operations and cargo," the employer says.

"The [redundancies] will be thoroughly discussed with staff representatives and unions as from 4 October, 2013.

"In addition, Air France will continue its policy of wage moderation in 2014 and a better adaptation of business costs to the seasonality of operations will be required."

The organisation revealed its plans to expand its long-haul routes and to continue to introduce new routes.

The airliner also intends to accelerate its renewal of its long-haul fleet, with the early retirement of the Boeing 747 by 2015 and the arrival of the Boeing 787 and Airbus 350, respectively in 2017 and 2018.

Frédéric Gagey, chairman and chief executive officer of Air France, declared: "Air France is continuing its thorough transformation based on the commercial development of its markets with high growth potential, the move upmarket of its products and services and the reduction of its costs."

He added: "I intend, together with all Air France staff, to concentrate on customer service and the successful recovery of our company."

The troubled Air France-KLM Group's full-year 2012 report revealed in February that the company's net losses widened to €1.19bn (£1bn, $1.6bn) from €809m, while revenues rose 5.2% to €25.63bn.