PARIS
Air France pilots are to end a costly two-week strike despite unsuccessful negotiations with management, reported France info radio on Sunday.
"The conditions of social dialogue are not met today. We decided to take our responsibilities by ending the strike," Guillaume Schmid, a spokesperson for the pilots’ main union told France info.
He added that the union - Syndicat National des Pilotes de Linge (SNPL) - is willing "to continue discussions in a more calm atmosphere."
Air France said it expects a "progressive" return to normal starting Tuesday.
"The flights that were already canceled Sunday 28th and Monday 29th will remain canceled," it said in a statement. "The return to normality will occur progressively starting Tuesday September 30 due to operational and regulatory constraints."
The action - which began September 15 and was originally scheduled to last one week - came in response to Air France’s plans to hire hundreds of new pilots on lower pay to fly for Transavia, a budget subsidiary.
The strike affected tens of thousands of passengers, grounded more than 60 percent of the airline's flights, and is understood to have cost the airline up to 20 million euros ($25 million) a day.
Air France announced Wednesday it would scrap its low-cost Transavia Europe plan and instead develop its Transavia France project in a bid to end the French carrier's biggest walkout since 1998.
However, pilots refused the offer and the union continued negotiations.
France Premier Manuel Valls welcomed the end of the conflict, saying in a statement that "Air France should resume as soon as possible its development, particularly through Transavia France, which is an undeniable asset to the growing market of low cost."
www.aa.com.tr/en
