Paris - SPA
A pilots strike at Air France entered its second day on Tuesday, with the two sides apparently no closer to resolving a dispute over cost cuts that has forced the French carrier to cancel 60 percent of flights, Reuters reported.
The airline said it expected to operate 'at least 40 percent of its flights' on Wednesday, based on three fifths of pilots walking out, as management prepared to hold further talks with unions later on Tuesday.
The pilots are carrying out a week-long strike over Air France's plans to expand the low-cost operations of its Transavia brand by setting up foreign bases to fight back against fierce competition from European low-cost airlines.
'We're continuing to negotiate, we have made proposals, we have heard the concerns of pilots who imagined that Transavia France could suddenly replace all of Air France across France,' airline chief Frederic Gagey told Europe 1 radio.