Transavia pilots approve Air France expansion plan

Air France has received the go-ahead from Transavia pilots, who are members of the SNPL France ALPA union, for an expansion plan that is part of the wider Air France-KLM Group’s bid to expand and boost profitability. The SNPL’s Transavia branch said Sept. 30 that all members had been asked Sept. 12 to vote on whether to approve Air France’s plans for low-cost Dutch subsidiary Transavia, which envisage the removal of a previous cap agreed with labour representatives that limited the unit’s fleet to 40 aircraft. However, a fellow pilots union, the SPL said Wednesday it plans to make a legal complaint, saying its members are not properly represented in discussions over Transavia’s future. The SPL had previously filed a strike notice for September and October after members of the Air France branch of the SNPL approved the Transavia development plans in July, saying at the time that Air France pilots had too much say in the future of Transavia. The SPL is largely made up of pilots who have flown for Transavia since it began operating: about 30% of the unit’s around 350 pilots. That strike notice has been lifted given the context of the wider air transport sector in France—where French leisure airline Aigle Azur is being liquidated and a court is set to decide imminently if low-cost, long-haul carrier XL Airways will also be liquidated—but the union plans to file a legal complaint over a lack of representation for its members, an SPL spokesman said. “We have been calling for development for Transavia for years—but in France there are laws, and they need to be respected,” he said. <br/>