Pilots strike over Europe Airpost sale
Pilots and ground staff at Europe Airpost are on strike following news that France’s La Poste is to sell the mail, cargo and passenger airline.
The employees started the action at 18.00 on Monday, causing delays to night post and during the day, passenger transport. They are due to return to work tomorrow, Thursday, at 05.00.
La Poste director general Jean-Paul Bailly confirmed the pending sale of Europe Airpost, first revealed by pilots’ union SNPL last week, in a letter to board members, the contents of which were published by newspaper Les Echos yesterday.
Bailly wrote that La Poste had decided to sell the company and move the transport of mail to TGV high-speed trains under a plan to set up a joint subsidiary with national rail operator SNCF.
Talks had opened with several potential buyers of the airline, Bailly said, although one had been selected for exclusive negotiations in the months to come.
Les Echos reported that, according to its information, La Poste’s preferred buyer is the South African holding group, Imperial, owner of the leasing company Safair, which is already running two Airbus A300s for Europe Airpost’s cargo operations.
SNPL said the sale was “economic and strategic nonsense” given Europe Airpost made a profit of EUR 15 million last year on revenues of EUR 240 million. The La Poste-SNCF rail subsidiary had not yet been set up, said the pilots’ union, and TGVs were currently not allowed to run at night.
Europe Airpost, based at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris, ferries night mail, freight and charter passengers to and from 16 main airports in France. It has a fleet of 25 planes, 12 of them B737-300 Quick Change cargo/passenger convertibles, and 400 staff.
