Airlines Air France could shut down Joon

Air France is currently considering to shut down its low-cost subsidiary airline Joon.

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According to aviation media, Air France-KLM chief executive Benjamin Smith is looking to maybe discontinue the Joon brand, which was founded last year. Reports say, that Smith is not convinced by the business model of the airline.

In 2017, Joon started to serve European destinations and continued its growth with ex-Air France aircraft. The carrier started then to operate long-haul destinations, which previously have been operated by the mainline carrier. Now, after celebrating one year of existence, Joon could be a thing of the past very soon.

Smith does not see, why Joon exists in the first place. The carrier uses old Air France aircraft on old Air France routes, but – as it is a low-cost carrier – pays new employees less. Smith stated, that this financial advantage do not justify the existence. Additionally, Joon received heavy criticism by employees, customers and investors.

This year, Joon employee moods were very bad and many of them striked in order to get better working conditions. However, these strikes influenced the financial success of the airline and led to former CEO of Air France-KLM Jean-Marc Janaillac being sacked.

Just recently, Smith has become the group´s chief executive. To improve the companies´ profitability he furthermore announced, that Air France is to return five of its ten A380s. On the other hand, he cuts costs at employees as well. For example, crew members reportedly have to give up several benefits during long-haul rotations.

The final approval to end Joon however rests with the remaining members of the board of directors at Air France-KLM.

Joon commenced in July 2017 as low-cost subsidiary of Air France. The carrier is headquartered and based at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and operates 11 destinations. Its fleet currently consists of seven A320s, five A321s and four A340-300s.

Source © AVIPEO.COM

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