Travel News Today

Air France said it hoped to return to normal service quickly after a five day cabin crew strike over pay, and added it would resume negotiations with union representatives on Tuesday.

Trade unions voted on Monday to end the strike at midnight as expected, a source said, but union representatives said it was unrealistic to expect a rapid return to normal traffic.

«For tomorrow, there is no chance that all the flights will take off. After five days of strikes, it can't happen like that. From a technical point of view, there is a time lag,» said Sud air union spokesman Leon Cremieux.

But Air France KLM estimated all long-haul flights and 90 percent of its medium-haul flights would run normally, Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta told French RTL radio.

The strike, which began on October 25, hit thousands of travelers trying to take advantage of this week's school holidays and a public holiday on Thursday.

Air France has said it expected «major costs» as a result of the dispute, but the Paris-based air carrier said there were no precise estimates of what the costs might be.

Spinetta said he would meet union representatives on Tuesday morning and hoped to reach an agreement. At the heart of the dispute are pay and working conditions due to expire at the end of 2007.

Spinetta said the company was open to discussions about salaries, but would not give in to some demands.

«Before we've even started negotiations, some people are demanding that we put a financial package on the table. We refuse to do that,» he said. «That's not social discussion, it's an ultimatum. It would be a surrender by the management, so it's a no.»

Six unions -- representing nearly 80 percent of cabin crew staff at the last union elections -- met on Monday and voted to end the strike.

Spinetta said Air France-KLM, created from the 2004 merger of the French airline with Dutch carrier KLM, must be able to compete.

«If we want to continue to create jobs, we must stay competitive,» he said.

In an interview in Monday's Le Parisien newspaper, Secretary of State for Transport Dominique Bussereau urged a swift end to the dispute and said Air France must become better at providing travelers with information about strikes.

(Reuters)