Police Detain Five in Air France Investigation
October 12 2015 - 6:40AM
Dow Jones News
PARIS—French police detained five men Monday suspected of
accosting two Air France executives a week ago, in an incident that
caused uproar in the country.
The men, who all work for the airline or its contractors, were
taken into police custody for questioning, an official at the
Bobigny prosecutor's office said on Monday. The men were identified
thanks to video footage of the incident that was aired on French
TV.
Workers besieged Air France management last Monday, tearing off
the clothes of human-resources chief Xavier Broseta as well as
Pierre Plissonnier, who oversees human resources for long-haul
flights. Company security guards pulled the managers from the melee
with their suit jackets and shirts ripped to shreds as the crowd
waved union banners and shouted.
The French airline and the two executives filed complaints with
police for aggravated violence. The suspects, whose identify wasn't
revealed, face up to five years of jail and fines.
Air France is in the middle of bruising negotiations with
workers, as the former state-owned carrier struggles to slim down
its operations and compete with more nimble rivals such as Ryanair
Holdings PLC and easyJet PLC in Europe. On long-haul flights,
carriers based in the Persian Gulf such as Emirates Airline have
also grabbed market share on flights between Europe and Asia.
The disruption last week came after the airline unveiled a plan
to slash 2,900 jobs and shutter some long-haul routes.
Air France management, whose management has received public
backing from the government in the latest labor dispute, has sought
to move beyond the incident, which was featured prominently in
media around the world.
The airline sent out a message to passengers world-wide on
Friday saying the violent acts were the work of isolated
individuals and should not blemish the airline's reputation.
"What you saw on Monday wasn't the real face of Air France," Mr.
Broseta says in an accompanying video.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 12, 2015 06:25 ET (10:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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