Air
France pilots say they will pursue their strike indefinitely, rejecting the
airline's offer to attempt to resolve the dispute.
Air
France offered to suspend plans to expand its budget carrier Transavia.
But
the pilots' SNPL union described that move as a "smokescreen" that
offered no more guarantees than previous offers.
Air
France's chief executive Alexandre de Juniac warned the strike could have
"catastrophic consequences".
The
eight-day-old strike is the airline's longest since 1998 and has been costing
15m euros (£11.8m; $19.3m) a day.
Jean-Louis
Barber, head of the Air France section of the SNPL union said: "As long as
management does not change its philosophy and as long as Air France management
will not conduct real talks in a
cooperative spirit to counter low-cost
(airlines), Air France pilots will be on strike."
Mr
de Juniac told Le Monde newspaper that the strike was "disastrous"
for the airline.
He
had hoped the delay in plans to expand the Transavia low-cost business would
allow time for "a thorough dialogue".
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."
'Obligatory move'
Pilots
fear the expansion of Transavia will drive down their wages.
Earlier
this month the company announced a plan to more the double then number of
passengers carried by Transavia by 2017 and expand its operations outside
France.
In
hubs outside France pilots are hired under local employment terms, which can be
less generous than at core Air France operations.
On
Sunday, France's Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said the fate of Air France
was "at stake" in the dispute.
"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.
Air
France said it expected to operate 41% of its flights on Monday.
BBC
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