Air France Pilots Vote For Low-Cost Boost Unit

Pilots at Air France have voted to accept in principle the creation of a new low-cost subsidiary at the airline, the SNPL union said.

The union reported a 58.1 percent vote to accept the creation of the Boost low cost carrier. The turnout was 73.8 percent.

SNPL said the vote clarifies the position of pilots but does not accept unilaterally the Air France proposals for the new airline. It said in a statement that many guarantees lacking in the airline’s proposal will have to be addressed by the company.

“We will continue to study the project in this new context and work to ensure it is a growth driver, including strong guarantees for Air France pilots,” the president of SNPL Air France Philippe Evain said.

The union sees further discussions necessary to find a compromise acceptable to the pilots.

The ‘Boost’ concept is for a low-cost long-haul carrier with a lower cost base than either Air France or KLM. Air France hopes to launch the new carrier late in 2017 or early 2018.