Will the government loosen the purse strings to support Air France? It really seems like yes. This Tuesday, at a press conference, the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, said that Bercy was " already planning" to help the French company, struggling for several weeks. " We are reflecting on the measures that need to be taken ," he added. The departments of the ministry are monitoring Air France-KLM's situation closely, and are ready to act if necessary.
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If Bruno Le Maire did not want to go into the details of these " measures ", he however clarified that nationalization was not the only option to which the government could appeal. More broadly, the minister reiterated that the executive would do everything in his power to defend its industrial flagships, which have been put in difficulty by the coronavirus epidemic. " A certain number of sectors are attacked on the markets " and " weakened " by the economic situation: " the State is behind them ", he insisted. Bercy will use " all the instruments at [its] disposal to protect our industrial heritage ".
The prospect of a nationalization of Air France-KLM does not yet seem topical: a few days ago, Bruno Le Maire confirmed that no decision on this point would be taken without the prior approval of the Netherlands. " We discuss regularly with my Dutch counterpart [...] I hope that on Air France, whatever decisions we make, we will do it in good intelligence ", commented laconically the boss of Bercy this morning.
Earlier in the morning, Bruno Le Maire said that his teams had prepared a " list of companies " that might need help to get through the coronavirus crisis. However, he did not wish to communicate it: " it would be a very bad policy to reveal our cards in advance, " he noted on Tuesday.
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The Air France-KLM group is going through a rough patch, like all air transport. Last week, he announced measures "exceptional, warning that he would have to" gradually reduce its activity significantly, with a supply of seats offered kilometers (SKO) which could fall between -70% and -90% " . This drop is complemented by an economic plan and various other measures, including the massive use of short-time working. In February, the Franco-Dutch group saw its traffic fall by 1.4%, a decrease which has probably increased in recent weeks, especially since the closure of the American borders desired by Donald Trump. For March, the company said it expected the cancellation of 3,600 flights, or " 13% of its capacity on the long-haul network ", 17% in France and 25% on the European network.