Day two for Air France strike

Passengers queue at Roissy airport, Paris

PARIS, France -- Air France was forced to cancel more than half its flights from Paris on Saturday as pilots went on strike for a second day over pay.

Just over half the flights from Charles de Gaulle and 68 percent from Orly, Paris's other large airport, were grounded as the four-day strike went into the weekend with no negotiations in sight.

In all, Air France said it was running 62 percent of its long-haul flights, 60 percent of medium-distance flights, mostly around Europe, and 70 percent of its short flights.

Only 52 percent of medium-haul flights operated on Friday.

There was little crowding or confusion at the airports as travellers, well warned in advance, stayed away or switched to France's high-speed train network.

RESOURCES • Air France Web site

There were no signs of any contacts between the six pilots unions, which are asking for a 10-12 percent pay increase following a seven percent hike last year, and the management of Air France.

"The door is open for discussions," an Air France spokesman told Reuters.

But the unions are waiting for management to make a proposal beyond the three percent they say has been offered.

"There hasn't been any now proposal from the management and so we're all still mobilised," said a spokesman at SNPL, the largest pilots union.

"These demands are unrealistic," Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta said on Friday, arguing that a hefty wage hike would have long-term negative effects on the airline.

Spinetta said other European airlines such as Lufthansa and SAS AB had granted pay increases of 15 to 30 percent in recent years, heavily burdening their finances.

Pilots say Air France has posted comparatively robust financial results, outperforming many of its peers by shifting capacity towards routes less affected by the September 11 attacks and snapping up the clients of failed airlines Sabena and Swissair.

In its 2001/2002 fiscal year, which ended in March, Air France was the only major European airline to report a profit, posting net earnings of 153 million euros ($152 million).

On Wednesday, the airline reported better-than-expected net profit of 159 million euros for the first quarter to June.

The French state, which currently owns 54.4 percent of the airline, announced in late July that it would reduce its holding below 20 percent in a public offering early next year.

Analysts say the strikes, if they persist, could threaten the success of that sale by sapping interest in the airline among professional and retail investors.

The pro-Communist CGT union has called all Air France employees to stop work on Wednesday to protest against the government's plan to sell off more of the airline.