The pilots of the CMA CGM Air Cargo (CCAC) company expressed on Wednesday their “great concern” about the social consequences of the end of the agreements between its parent company and Air France-KLM, announced the day before. “CCAC pilots need quick answers on the sustainability of their jobs and the very future of CMA CGM Air Cargo in France,” the National Union of Line Pilots (SNPL) said in a press release.
On Tuesday, Air France-KLM and CMA CGM, a shipowner and logistics provider, announced the surprising end of a commercial partnership revealed less than two years ago. These agreements, which provided for the two companies to jointly operate all-cargo aircraft from their respective airlines, will end on March 31, a decision justified by “a restricted regulatory environment in certain important markets (that) did not allow cooperation to function optimally.
The reluctance of the US authorities regarding a file that causes the end of the association
According to a source close to the matter, it was the reluctance of American authorities to authorize CCAC to join the Air France-KLM-Delta-Virgin Atlantic transatlantic alliance that derailed the partnership. However, according to the SNPL, “this commercial agreement was intended to increase synergies and promote the development of the CCAC company, which, for this purpose, ordered new aircraft”, two Boeing 777 and four Airbus A350.
The CCAC, which employs just over 120 pilots according to the SNPL, currently operates five aircraft (three Airbus A330s and two Boeing 777s) based in Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle. According to the SNPL, the two new 777s, “which were to join the French fleet, will finally be transferred to the United States after their delivery in 2024, through a company with a US air transport certificate.”
Source: BFM TV
