Dutch budget airline Transavia plans to expand at Paris Orly this summer.
The carrier, jointly owned by Air France-KLM, would lease a small fleet of A320s from Air France with the intention of launching services to Budapest, Istanbul, Malaga, Pisa, Prague and Rome. Other possible destinations would be Barcelona, Casablanca and Tel Aviv.
Air France is using Transavia, with its lower-paid staff and operating costs, to better compete with the growing number of budget services now being developed by foreign airlines at both of Paris' main airports.
The move forms part of Air France's Transform 2015 Plan. In a website statement, the national airline confirms that it is offering a few dozen of its pilots a "mobility incentive to support the development of its subsidiary Transavia".
It reads: "The pilots will be seconded (on a volunteer basis) to Transavia France for a duration of three years, under Transavia France conditions of employment and pay."
Air France declines to name the amount of the financial incentive. But a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, suggests it could be equivalent to six months' pay, in other words as much as 60,000 euros.
At present, Air France and the pilots' union are in negotiation and are hopeful that an agreement can be reached, according to La Tribune.
Alex McWhirter