Air France plans to cut 5,122 post to bolster profit

 PARIS, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Europe's leading airline Air France-KLM announced on Thursday its plan to lay off 5,122 employees out of 49,301 staff of Air France by 2013, but not in a compulsory¹ way.

With the aim to cut the group's 2-billion-euro net debt (2.53 billion U.S. dollars) and boost profitability, the Franco-Dutch firm estimated 1,712 not replaced natural departures over the period with the residual² number of excess staff expected at 3,410 posts at the end of 2013, it said in a statement posted on its website.

"If the agreements are signed, the accompanying measures to reduce staff numbers will exclude the use of forced departures before the end of 2013," the group noted³.

Facing a challenging business climate, Air France-KLM wants to restore competitiveness through cost-cutting, restructuring the short- and medium-haul operations as well as debt reduction.

"By the end of 2014, the company aims to increase economic efficiency by 20 percent by limiting changes to the payroll⁴ and by increasing the efficiency of time worked, by not replacing staff who leave and by improving processes," the company said. (1 euro = 1.267 U.S dollar)

1 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

2 residual   

adj.复播复映追加时间；存留下来的，剩余的

参考例句：

• There are still a few residual problems with the computer program.电脑程序还有一些残留问题。
• The resulting residual chromatism is known as secondary spectrum.所得到的剩余色差叫做二次光谱。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。