PARIS
The union for Air France pilots is threatening to extend a strike into a second week that has already left 60 percent of the airline's planes grounded.
Jean-Louis Barber, the head of pilot's union SNPL (Syndicat National des Pilotes de Linge), told French daily Le Monde on Thursday that the industrial action may go on indefinitely unless its demands are met.
"The response is going to be very, very clear. If the pilots vote to continue the strike, this time it will be for an unlimited duration," he said.
A ballot will take place among members and the results released Saturday, he said, adding that 67 percent are backing the action.
The week-long industrial action - in its fourth day - is in response to the airline’s plans to hire hundreds of new pilots on lower pay to fly for Transavia, a budget subsidiary.
It has left more than 60 percent of Air France flights cancelled.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls urged the pilots to go back to work, describing the strike to France Inter radio as “incomprehensible.”
Air France Chief Executive Frederic Gagey has told France Inter that cancellations would cost the company millions of euros (dollars), "up to 15 million a day."
www.aa.com.tr/en
