PARIS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Cabin crew unions at Air France
have demanded that the carrier stop flying to China,
staff representatives told Reuters, amid concern that the
flights may expose employees to the coronavirus and help spread
infections.
The main Air France flight attendants' unions asked managers
at a meeting on Wednesday to end the flights, according to
officials at UNAC and SNPNC, two of the four biggest groupings.
Asked to comment on the situation, a spokesman for Air
France-KLM said: "Air France is monitoring the rapidly evolving
situation in real time. The health and safety of its crew remain
the absolute priority."
While European rivals including Lufthansa and
British Airways have already suspended China
operations, Air France and Dutch stablemate KLM have maintained
services on a reduced schedule reflecting a slump in demand.
The cabin staff call for a halt to Air France Beijing and
Shanghai services was due to be discussed at a works council on
Thursday with the support of at least one pilots' union, SPAF,
which has called separately for the flights to cease.
Air France has already put in place a voluntary regime,
allowing pilots and crew to opt out of China flights.
(Reporting by Laurence Frost;
Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
International Airlines (IAG)
