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Air France KLM shares slump on risk of further strikes

Air France KLM shares slumped Monday after the airline's biggest pilots union said over the weekend that there were risks of further strikes if pay talks with management did not resume. Air France KLM shares were down 5.8% in early trading. The stock has fallen by around 40% so far in 2018. Sunday, Philippe Evain, head of the powerful French SNPL pilots' union, threatened in Le Parisien newspaper 15 more days of strikes if the new Air France KLM CE did not restart talks over pay conditions. KLM Monday said its talks with Dutch pilots union VNV over better working conditions are in "a difficult phase" .Dutch pilots would consider going on strike if KLM fails to come up with better offers before Friday, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf said, citing a letter from the union to its members. <br/>

Delta adds corporate benefits to Air France-KLM partnership

Delta claims it's flying to new heights for business travellers with changes to its joint venture partnership with Air France-KLM. The airline said Monday it's launching an "industry-first program" of aligned benefits for corporate customers, which stretches into seat choices and priority boarding. Delta said that, starting in Q4 of 2018, Global Corporate Priority will let Delta, Air France and KLM corporate travellers new benefits, regardless of which airline they’re flying and which airline they booked their ticket through. That includes picking "better Main Cabin seats" without paying an additional fee; priority boarding; and priority assistance in the event of "irregular operations." Delta said it's evaluating expansion of these corporate benefits to other joint ventures. <br/>