Air France CEO Mrs.Anne Rigail letter
- Ana Tabuenca
- Jun 5, 2020
- 3 min read
Dear Customer, First of all, I want to thank you all for your kind messages of support since the beginning of the crisis. To all Air France staff, these words of encouragement are precious and maintain our ambition to progressively resume our operations for you. We have obtained the support of the French State in the form of a € 7 billion loan guarantee, allowing Air France to look to the future with confidence. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the commitments we have made regarding this loan: 1. A reconstruction plan that puts Air France on a par with the best performing global airlines in terms of competitiveness. 2. A faster implementation of our commitments to make the energy transition of the air transport sector, which include: - A readaptation in the size of our domestic network for departures from Orly and the French regions, taking into account the rail transport alternatives for trips of less than 2 h 30. - Prioritize our investments in the renewal of the fleet by investing in new generation aircraft that reduce CO2 emissions by percentages between 20% and 25%. - Confirmation of our objective to reduce our CO2 emissions per passenger / km in our entire network by 50% by 2030, compared to the reference year 2005. In the national network, we are accelerating this process as part of our commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% of absolute value, between 2019 and 2024. - Incorporation of up to 2% of sustainable alternative fuel by 2025, backed by the emerging French biofuel production sector. Thanks to an improved health and safety situation, we are preparing to gradually resume our flight operations to meet your travel needs upon departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Air France currently serves more than 50 destinations. We hope to offer you more than a hundred services in mid-June, with some twenty destinations in France, more than 40 services between Paris and Europe, and more than 30 intercontinental routes. This represents approximately 15% of our normal flight schedule and we hope to rapidly increase our capacity as soon as sanitary and regulatory conditions allow us to reopen the borders completely, at an intra-European, and then intercontinental level.
To allow you to plan your next trip with total peace of mind, we have adapted our commercial policy making all our flexible rates modifiable at no additional cost in the same rate class. Last but not least, I would also like to share with you all the health and safety commitments we have made to ensure you have a safe travel experience. We have grouped these measures under our label "Air France Protect", which we will adjust regularly according to the changing health situation and the latest medical updates: - The use of surgical masks is now mandatory as soon as you arrive at the airport, as well as on board our aircraft throughout the flight. - All our staff is also equipped with surgical masks. - Implementation of physical distance measures at each step of the client's journey through the airport, visibly indicated by marks on the ground and special signage, as well as Plexiglas protection screens installed on all our counters. - Hand sanitizer available at all contact points throughout the airport (self-service machines, luggage delivery, boarding, etc.). - Body temperature checks are carried out before boarding on all our flights (except where local regulations prohibit it). - Our boarding procedures have been reorganized to limit contact on board our aircraft. Therefore, we first approach customers who sit on the side of the plane, moving on to those who are in the front. - On board, we have simplified the offer of meals on board to limit interaction. We no longer offer a food or drink service on flights of less than 2:30. - On longer flights, dishes are served in sealed containers or individually wrapped in your food tray. - Our booths are thoroughly cleaned daily and disinfected regularly with an approved long-lasting disinfecting spray. - Our cabins are equipped with an air filtering system identical to that used in hospital operating rooms (HEPA filters). The air in the cabin is completely filtered and renewed every 3 minutes. Additionally, I would advise you to consult the regulations in force at your destination, which may vary by country. I am aware that these measures require familiarization with new travel practices. However, the collective application of these rules means that we can protect everyone's health and ensure that we can gradually start flying around the world once again. And that is vital for all of us. With my warmest regards, Anne Rigail - Air France CEO
Comments