Attention, Air France Passengers: Take Out the Trash

In an industry where speedy and sparse service has become de rigueur, Air France has made much of its full-service operation. Its first-class cabins are spacious, and free wine flows for all on every flight. But there’s a limit to how much coddling the French carrier’s in-flight staff is willing to provide. Air France will ask passengers on new regional flights from French cities to carry some trash with them when leaving the plane to recycling bins in the jetway. The reason: Cabin-crew unions refuse cleanup duty.

That’s just one of the challenges Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, chief executive officer of Air France-KLM Group, faces as he tries to update the airline’s operations to fend off the advance of discounters EasyJet and Ryanair Holdings in its home market. The carrier has so far met resistance from unions as it attempts to craft a low-cost operation to win back traffic at provincial airports.