Today a new agreement has been signed between Air France and its cabin crew, with unanimous support from the three representative cabin crew unions at Air France – SNPNC, UNAC, and UNSA-PNC.
This signature successfully concludes the categorical discussions held over the past several weeks with representatives of commercial flight crews.
“I am very pleased with this new balanced agreement,” said Benjamin Smith, “which represents the successful conclusion of the categorical discussions with our cabin crew. Working together with SNPNC, UNAC, and UNSA-PNC, we were able to resolve many concerns of our cabin crew, while simultaneously working to align their interests with Air France. With this balanced agreement, I hope to see improved trust and fruitful dialogue between Air France and our employees, as I firmly believe that we must have employee buy-in and support in order to truly become a global leader.”
Improvements and Simplification
This balanced agreement represents a major step towards ensuring a strong future for flight attendants at Air France, as well as rebuilding the trust and confidence between cabin crew and the company’s management.
This agreement also improves the working conditions of the cabin crew by resolving a number of their concerns. In turn, Air France will be able to deliver better service to our customers, elevating the position of Air France in a competitive global marketplace.
A project for Joon’s future
After much discussion with employees and customers alike, and in consultation with the unions, Air France has decided to launch a project studying the future of the Joon brand and the integration of Joon employees and aircraft into Air France.
Despite the many positive impacts of Joon, in particular, the invaluable contribution of the teams at Joon who launched the company and worked with passion and dedication, the brand was difficult to understand from the outset for customers, for employees, for markets and for investors.
The plurality of brands in the marketplace has created much complexity and unfortunately weakened the power of the Air France brand.
Through integration, Air France would see many benefits thanks to the fleet, brand, and product harmonisation. Managing the operation would be improved through a common fleet of aircraft. Air France will also be able to ensure a smooth transition of the Airbus A350, currently on order, to the Air France fleet with a more economical cabin configuration.
All Joon flights currently sold or for sale would, of course, be operated by Joon until the project is completed, and then taken over by Air France.
The simplification of the brand portfolio, while capitalising on the Air France mother brand, is an undeniable asset for our employees, our customers, and indeed all stakeholders. It would also enable Air France to complete this integration without impacting the efficiency of the Air France-KLM Group.
Published on January 10th, 2019