Air France pilots end strike after two weeks

The Air France pilot strike has come to an end, despite the fact that the pilots did not get all their requests granted. The strike started 14 days ago and cost the airline more than 200 million euros. The directors of Air France made several concessions, but the striking pilots were not satisfied. On Wednesday Air France decided to pull their plans with Transavia, meeting the strikers' main demand. In a statement the pilots said that they will take responsibility and start flying again, but discussions will continue. According to NOS it seems the pilots decided to end the strike because of communal pressure. A survey showed that 70 percent of the public felt that the pilots should start working again. The pilots fear for their jobs if Air France starts letting Transavia do some of their flights. In this manner Air France wants to compete with budget airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair. The strikers demand that pilots at air France and Transavia work under the same contract, to prevent the two groups of pilots in Air France being played off against each other. Pilots working for Transavia earn less and work more hours than pilots at Air France.