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Alexandre de Juniac is stepping down as CE of Air France-KLM after three years that were punctuated by profit warnings and clashes with trade unions.<br/>De Juniac is leaving the Franco-Dutch airline group to become director-general of the IATA, the main trade body for the aviation industry. His time at Air France-KLM was notable for his efforts to improve the group’s competitiveness through cost-cutting — de Juniac’s proposals prompted a 14-day strike by Air France pilots in 2014 that crippled the airline and ranked as the worst industrial dispute in its history. Air France-KLM, like other long-established aviation groups, is under strong pressure to improve its efficiency as fast-expanding Middle East carriers led by Emirates Airline increase their presence on long-haul routes. European budget airlines such as easyJet are also expanding their presence on short-haul routes. Air France-KLM said de Juniac had received an offer from Iata and had “indicated [to the board of directors] that he would accept the proposal”. The group has yet to finalise de Juniac’s successor. He is due to start his new role at Iata on August 1, replacing Tony Tyler, who has been DG since 2011. <br/>

Air France moved to defuse a clash with part of its work force after the airline demanded that female employees wear veils on a new service to Iran, leading a union to accuse the company of “an attack on women.” The company circulated a memo on March 18 that outlined the dress standards, including a requirement that women “wear a head scarf and a wide and long garment to conceal their forms” on their arrival in the country, according to the National Union of Flights Attendants. The union responded with outrage, calling the instructions “an attack on freedom of conscience” and demanding that Air France allow female employees to refuse to work on the route to Tehran, which is scheduled to start on April 17. On Monday, the company relented, saying the assignment would be voluntary. The firestorm over Air France’s memo highlighted long-running anxieties in France over the role of Islam in public life, concerns that have grown more acute in the wake of Islamic State terror attacks in Paris and in Brussels. Some accused the company of disrespecting women’s rights, while others said it was surrendering to radical Islam. But the airline pushed back, characterizing its memo simply as a reminder that the Iranian legal system strictly regulates how women can dress in public. “The law of Iran imposes the wearing of a veil covering the hair in public places to all women on its territory,” the airline said in a statement to Le Monde, the French newspaper. “This obligation, which therefore does not apply during the flight, is respected by all international airlines serving the Republic of Iran.”<br/>

Air France will invest E140m extending a cabin refurbishment to its Airbus Group SE A330 fleet that will include lie-flat business-class seats from Zodiac Aerospace, the embattled supplier that has struggled to fulfill orders. The upgrade will begin late next year and finish in 2018, the airline said. Each of the twin-aisle planes will be equipped with 30 business-class seats costing E50,000 apiece that extend into full beds, part of a broader effort to offer the setup in all the carrier’s long-haul airliners. The project also includes installing 21 premium economy and 175 economy seats. Zodiac has been renovating cabins of Air France’s Boeing 777 airliners, and has finished 31 of 44 planes.<br/>