Paris (AFP)

Transavia France, which now has the free way to increase its activity within Air France KLM, was affected Friday by a strike impact limited to the call of the CGT, which claims in particular to be associated with the "future development of the low-cost company.

This social movement in the summer season, a strategic period for Transavia, affected little traffic Friday, with 95% of flights provided in accordance with forecasts, according to a spokesman for the management of this subsidiary "low-cost" Air France- KLM.

Two of the 66 flights departing from Paris-Orly were canceled, 4 out of 9 departing from Lyon and none of the 14 departing from Nantes, according to airport websites.

For Saturday, the management "plans to ensure 97% of its flight program", but "last minute disturbances are nevertheless not excluded".

The hostesses and stewards are called to strike until Sunday evening by the CGT, the first union at Transavia France, which denounces "catastrophic human and material management" in the company. A long notice running until January 5, 2020 may later allow "to launch other calls to the strike," according to Elodie Gomes, elected CGT.

"It's been months that calls for management to find a social dialogue.There is nothing sudden in this call to strike," she told AFP.

"We have never been invited to any meeting regarding the future development of Transavia and this must change immediately," claims the union.

However, a brake to the development of the company has just been lifted: in late July, the Air France pilots SNPL (the first union of pilots within Air France-KLM) voted for the end of the quota of 40 devices for Transavia France, ceiling imposed in 2014 to limit the transfer of activity of Air France-KLM.

Faced with this demand of the CGT, "never mentioned" previously by the management, a spokesman for Transavia France argues that "the negotiations on the development of Transavia are at the group level between the pilots and the management of the Air France Group ".

- "Repetitive incidents" -

Strongly competed by the European leaders Ryanair (420 aircraft) and easyJet (more than 300), Transavia France currently has 38 Boeing 737s and the Dutch branch of 42 others, which serve a hundred destinations in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin.

In 2018, the two divisions achieved their best results since the launch of the "low-cost" with a cumulative operating profit of 139 million euros, according to the group. They carried 1.8 million passengers in July (+ 5.8% compared to July 2018), including 811,000 for Transavia France (+ 11%).

The CGT also denounces, in an open letter to the General Manager of Air France-KLM Ben Smith, "repeated incidents and flight safety undermined" on a device that experienced multiple problems in July, including pressurization despite several fixed assets for repairs.

She also criticizes the excessive use of the charter of flights (76 in July), source of increased costs and which is due according to her "incompetence" of management. According to a spokesman for Transavia France, "4% of flights were chartered in July, 3% of which were done preemptively due to the delay in delivery of a new aircraft."

The airline had already been affected at Christmas by a strike call launched by the CGT, which called for the "immediate withdrawal of the dismissal procedure" against one of his union delegates, finally dismissed in May, including for sexist remarks according to the direction.

Since the dismissal, management has criticized the union for not participating in five bargaining meetings. Mrs. Gomes, elected to the company's social and economic committee (CSE), said that the CGT elected representatives were "always present at the CSE meetings".

© 2019 AFP