Air France-KLM To Cut Up To 3,000 Jobs By 2011

Air France-KLM aims to cut between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs in the next two financial years, a spokeswoman for the carrier said on Wednesday.

The Franco-Dutch company, which posted a 9.4 percent slump in passenger traffic in March, will not renew short-term contracts or replace retiring employees, avoiding compulsory layoffs, she said, confirming an article in newspaper La Tribune.

Air France-KLM cut 2,400 jobs in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009 and forecast an operating loss of EUR200 million euros (USD$265.6 million) for the period. It expects a further loss for 2009/10.

Shares in Air-France KLM have lost 1.33 percent so far this year, after dropping some 61 percent in 2008, giving the company a market value of about EUR2.7 billion (USD$3.6 billion).