Air France-KLM reports precarious year

Air-France-KLM Cargo suffered an operating loss of €212 million in 2014, with a two-week pilot’s strike blamed for €24 million of that loss. Had there not been a strike the operating loss still would have been €188 million. Either way, not a great year.

Excluding the losses incurred from the strike, AF-KLM’s year-end losses would have shrunken by 6.9 percent over 2013, but as a result of the labor dispute, the year ended with a disappointing 5 percent increase in operating loss.

Cargo volume for 2014 was reported at 1.302 million metric tonnes, down from 1.341 million metric tonnes, which represents a deficit of 2.9 percent, compared to 2013.

Cargo Facts, the sister publication to Air Cargo World, said the carrier plans to continue cutting its freighter fleet. Already, it has shifted its focus to more belly space, carrying 72 percent of its total cargo in bellies. The carrier’s plan is to reduce the total fleet, which includes the Dutch arm Martinair, to five freighters – two 777Fs based in Paris, and three 747ERFs based in Amsterdam. If that happens, it could be the end for Martinair, which employs approximately 150 pilots.

With the fleet reduction, Air-France-KLM believes it can reach a break-even point by 2017. But Cargo Facts reports a rift developing between the French and Dutch arms of the company won’t be settled easily.