PARIS -- Air France-KLM warned Saturday that it was preparing to cancel about 60 percent of its scheduled flights Monday because of a dispute with pilots, a move that has the potential to disrupt the travel plans of tens of thousands.
Frederic Gagey, chief executive of the company's Air France unit, said negotiations with union leaders would continue through the weekend in the hope of reaching an agreement with pilots, who are seeking to ensure that the 250 new pilots the group aims to hire for its budget carrier over the next five years will be employed under the same contract as those flying under the main Air France brand.
But in a statement Saturday, the company said that it expected 60 percent of Air France's more than 3,800 pilots would strike Monday, making extensive flight cancellations inevitable. Cedric Leurquin, an airline spokesman, said that about 85,000 passengers would soon be receiving emails or text messages alerting them to flight cancellations or delays.
In a French radio interview, Gagey said the strike, which the pilots threatened to extend through Sept. 22, could expose the airline to as much as 15 million euros, or $19.4 million, in lost revenue a day.
A spokesman for the Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne, which represents 80 percent of Air France's pilots, did not immediately return calls.
A Section on 09/14/2014