Air
France has said it is suspending until December its plan to develop its budget
carrier, Transavia, in an effort to end a pilots' strike over the move.
The
decision was announced by the airline's boss, Alexandre de Juniac, as the
dispute entered its eighth day.
The
strike is the airline's longest since 1998 and has been costing the firm 15m
euros (£11.8m; $19.3m) a day.
Mr
de Juniac said the aim was to allow time for "a thorough dialogue"
and provide guarantees for unions.
He
told Le Monde newspaper the strike was "disastrous" for the airline.
But
he added: "This arrangement must not call into question our ambition to
develop Transavia, which is one of the key sources of growth for the Air
France-KLM group."
On
Sunday, France's Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said the fate of Air France
was "at stake" in the dispute.
Pilots
are protesting over the firm's plan to expand Transavia because they fear it
will drive down their wages.
"There
must be a positive approach in this situation, otherwise I think that it's the
fate of the company that could be at stake," Mr Vidalies told France Info
radio.
"The
low-cost [sector] is not a choice, it's an obligatory move, that's reality. I
think pilots are fully aware of this," he said.
On
Monday, Air France expects to operate 41% of its flights.
On
Sunday, the pilots' union, the SNPL, called on the French government to
intervene and help resolve the dispute.
"Talks
have reached a complete impasse," the SNPL said in a statement.
"Management is playing for time, waiting for the movement to weaken."
BBC
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