By mcbitter
With Paris being a major European city, not to mention the capital of France, there are plenty of issues to talk about in the news. One that's been affecting us (by "us" I mean the Americans in my program) is the recent Air France strike. Two weeks ago on September 15th, the union representing 75% of Air France pilots began picketing because they didn't want their paychecks to decrease or positions to be affected as a result of the airline investing more money into Transavia, its budget-friendly subsidiary. Overall, the strike - which was the longest in Air France's history - resulted in many canceled flights and a daily loss of 20 million euros, or about $25.4 million USD. Thankfully, the strike ended today (Sunday, September 28th), a couple days before many of my friends will be leaving for Amsterdam or Berlin on Thursday. (As for me, I'm taking the train north to Lille, France for the weekend, so I didn't have to worry much!)
It seems that competitors like RyanAir and EasyJet (which have rock-bottom prices - seriously, it can be as low as 25 euros for a flight!) are really throwing the airline industry for a loop. I haven't flown either of these airlines personally, but plenty of people I know have and would do so again. With such cheap tickets, they make money on pretty much any other service (like printing out your boarding pass, extra bags, etc.), but as long as you plan everything out, you can avoid these fees. So, overall, it makes sense that Air France would want to toughen up their own economical line of flights, but needs to avoid doing so at the expense of existing pilots.
Lastly - the timing of this event is rather interesting, because just last week - while the strike was still going on - I went to the Air France Expo at the Grand Palais downtown. It showcased Air France's new marketing campaign, especially all of the technological improvements they're installing. (For example, in first class, your seat - which is closed off from other passengers - actually folds down into a bed!) I wonder what the flight attendants working the expo must have been thinking at the time...