Air France talks resume as strike enters 11th day

PARIS, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Negotiations to stop the Air France pilots' strike resumed Thursday.

Eleven days into the strike, Air France is eager to end the disruption that has cost the airline up to $25 million per day, and has resulted in the cancellation of about half the airline's flights.

The pilots' union, the National Syndicate of Airline Pilots went on strike over plans by Air France-KLM, the Air France parent group, to expand its Transavia airline specializing in low-cost flights. The union said the the move would outsource jobs to countries with lower taxes and less expensive labor.

Late Wednesday, Air France attempted to pacify the union by building on its proposal earlier in the day to suspend any planned changes for one year, offering to cancel parts of the planned relocation of its European operations to Transavia.

Air France expressed hope that the additional concessions would help "find an immediate outcome to this deconstructive conflict." The two parties were discussing the proposal Thursday. In the meantime, the union said that strikes would continue.