Abidjan | Tuesday
AIR France is suspending flights to Abidjan in Ivory Coast in retaliation for a go-slow by staff of the African airline Air Afrique against the French carrier, airline sources said on Monday.
The work to rule by unions of airport staff has targeted Air France flights to 11 African countries to force more concessions from the French airline, which is due to become the largest shareholder in a revamped Air Afrique.
Air France did not announce the suspension officially. But AFP learned that the decision was firm. Sources said the airline would suspend its flights to Abidjan, normally once daily, until further notice.
Workers began a go-slow last week saying Air France was not living up to its commitments to Air Afrique.
The Air Afrique trade union accuses Air France of dragging its feet on a pledge to finance a “social plan” — or negotiated redundancy scheme — in collaboration with the member states.
Last week an Air France plane was held up on the ground for 24 hours by the go-slow at Abidjan, an air traffic hub for west Africa.
“This can’t go on forever,” sources close to Air France said: “Blocking an aircraft entails enormous cost and disrupts our schedules … quite apart from security considerations.”
Air Afrique has a monopoly of ground maintenance in Ivory Coast and Air France is obliged to use its facilities.
The social plan envisaged by the unions includes the payment of golden handshakes to any workers laid off.
Adote Gandhi Akwei, the secretary-general of the Air Afrique workers’ union, said earlier: “We want a decent social plan, negotiated and financed by Air France and in line with the Brazzaville accord. We also want workers to be part of the negotiation process.”
Air Afrique, which has a 510-million-euro ($464-million) debt burden, is seen as overstaffed with a total of 4 200 workers, 600 of whom are flight crew.
In August, Air Afrique’s member states agreed in Brazzaville on a restructuring package that should leave them with just 20% of Air Afrique’s shares and give Air France 35%, making the French company the main shareholder.
Air Afrique was set up 40 years ago by Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Congo, Ivory Coast, Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo and hailed as a symbol of pan-African cooperation.
However, it has suffered from slipshod and erratic services, corruption and fiscal mismanagement.
Air Afrique union official Bakary Bamba said last week of the go-slow: “What is at stake here is African pride. An African airline that flies over African skies. We cannot let foreigners call all the shots.
“We want to send a message to Air France and France that the old days are over when France dictated terms. We are living in a world of globalisation — we can look to other countries.”
Bamba said the protest would “delay all Air France flights in 11 countries which are shareholders in Air Afrique. – AFP