Air France strike enters third day

Paris: Air France scrapped more than half its flights on Tuesday as pilots extended a strike into a third day, defying Prime Minister Manuel Valls who urged them to stop their "incomprehensible" industrial action. Pilots have walked off the job in protest against the airline's plans to expand its low-cost leisure subsidiary Transavia France, whose pilots are cheaper to employ. Unions fear the company will seek to cut costs by running more low-cost Transavia flights at the expense of Air France operations. An Air France source told AFP that the hourly cost of employing a Transavia France pilot was some 40 per cent less than a pilot at the senior group.

A pilot for the French flag carrier earns about 75,000 euros ($97,000) a year on average while captains of long-haul flights can earn up to 250,000 euros.

Air France was running only four out of 10 flights today. Air France boss Frederic Gagey has put the daily losses from the strike at 10 to 15 million euros.

Valls had told French radio: "We have to stop this strike. It is regrettable that a single category of employee, pilots, can bring air transport in the country to a standstill."