Air France-KLM may give in to striking pilots' demand

Air France-KLM may give in to the French pilots' demand that the capacity growth within the airline cooperation be shared "more evenly", ANP reports. This would be detrimental to KLM, which is currently growing while Air France is shrinking, but new CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac is prepared to consider the demand. At the acquisition of KLM in 2004, it was agreed that themerger will not be detrimental to the development of the KLM and Schiphol network. And in the past years that agreement was held to - KLM even grew faster than Air France. But the French pilots thinks that the capacity expansion at KLM should at least partly be shared with Air France. This is one of the demands they want met to stop further strikes, according to ANP. Sources close to KLM confirmed to ANP that the management in Paris is leaning towards letting the pilots have their way in order to prevent another expensive strike. Whether a strike can be prevented remains to be seen. The pilots plan to strike on Saturday, a day after the start of the European Championships in Paris. Janaillac only starts work as CEO on July 4th - sooner than the initial start date of August 1st, but still after the threatened strike. In reaction KLM again called the strike "destructive", especially now that the airline group is finally back in the black after years of losses. The Dutch airline emphasized that the strike will come at the cost of Air France, not KLM.