Air France strike boosts Easyjet profits by £5m

Easyjet today revealed that the Air France pilots' strike has boosted its profits by around £5 million. The budget carrier claims the lengthy industrial action at Air France has resulted in passengers switching to Easyjet. As a result, it has lifted its profit forecast as its shares have risen in value. Easyjet now expects its pre-tax profit for the year to September 30 to be between £575 million and £580 million, up from £545 million to £570 million. Carolyn McCall, Easyjet's chief executive, said: "We finished the year strongly. Our performance demonstrates our continued focus on cost and progress against all our strategic revenue priorities and further emphasises Easyjet's structural advantage against both legacy and low-cost competition." Earlier this week, Air France pilots called off their two-week strike so that negotiations with the airline can "continue in a calmer climate" (see news, September 29). There is still no agreement between the carrier and pilots' union SNPL, which is protesting plans to transfer jobs to Air France subsidiary Transavia. The industrial action has cost the airline hundreds of millions of euros. It began last month and was originally scheduled to last for seven days (see news, September 15). The strike was then extended until at least Friday, and possibly indefinitely (see news, September 22), before being called off a week later. easyjet.com, airfrance.co.uk Graham Smith