Air France cancels flights on second day of strike

Air France was to cancel 20 percent of its scheduled flights Sunday on the second day of a cabin crew strike expected to last five days, including a major national holiday. "Eighty percent of flights are leaving on time or with a delay of less than 15 minutes," an airport source at Paris' Charles de Gaulle hub told AFP after the company said it expected 80 percent of flight to be maintained. The management said that 88 percent of flights had run on the first day of the strike, Saturday, instead of the announced 80 percent. Flight attendants are striking over plans to reduce the number of crew on some flights. Air France has been limiting the number of passengers allowed onto some flights and using other airlines' planes to reduce the strike's impact. Some flights from Paris' main Charles de Gaulle airport to European destinations including London and Milan were cancelled on Sunday, as well as a flight to Los Angeles and a flight to Montreal. Management said that less than 30 percent of cabin crew were on strike, while unions put the figure at over 50 percent. Unions said that Sundays were usually relatively quiet days for air travel and that the strike would begin to bite on Monday. The uncertainty provoked outrage from some who had hoped to travel during France's Toussaint -- All Saints' -- holiday week. "The strikers are taking people hostage. It's not normal," said angry passenger Francois Geoffroy at Paris' Orly airport. The labour dispute comes after Air France-KLM reported a first quarter net loss of 197 million euros ($283 million) and warned that the outlook was uncertain for the rest of the year.