PARIS - A spokesman for Air France says the airline plans to eliminate 2,500 jobs over the next two years without making layoffs but through natural attrition.
Air France, part of the Air France-KLM group, currently employs 70,000.
It has seen its passenger traffic numbers shrivel since the start of the economic crisis and last month it forecast an operating loss of about US$272.1 million for its fiscal full year, which ended March 31.
The spokesman says Air France's job cuts will be made by not replacing retiring workers and not renewing short-term contracts.
Until last month the airline group had been forecasting a profit, but passenger and cargo traffic has been hit by a decline in business travel and international trade.
Air France-KLM's passenger traffic fell 9.4 per cent in March, with traffic within Europe and on routes to the Americas particularly hard-hit.
