10 January, 2019

Joon's operations to be absorbed into Air France

Billed as an airline exclusively for millennials, Joon from Air France was supposed to offer a new level of service, create a fresh style in the skies and was supposed to offer more of an 'experience' than a flight.  Yet, the dream didn't last and now the end is near for the pretentious carrier according to reports in latribune.fr.

It has lasted little over a year and according to the report by Fabrice Gliszczynski the airline is officially coming to an end with the management agreeing with unions on moving across the 600 or so Joon cabin crew into Air France main fleet operations. The rest of Joon's operations will be absorbed into Air France and the Joon brand will slowly disappear. 

Air France issued the following statement to confirm the start of a project to absorb the operations of Joon back into Air France.



After much discussion with employees and customers alike, and in consultation with the unions, Air France has decided to launch a project studying the future of the Joon brand and the integration of Joon employees and aircraft into Air France.
Despite the many positive impacts of Joon, in particular the invaluable contribution of the teams at Joon who launched the company and worked with passion and dedication, the brand was difficult to understand from the outset for customers, for employees, for markets and for investors. 
The plurality of brands in the marketplace has created much complexity and unfortunately weakened the power of the Air France brand.
Through integration, Air France would see many benefits thanks to fleet, brand, and product harmonisation. Managing the operation would be improved through a common fleet of aircraft. Air France will also be able to ensure a smooth transition of the Airbus A350, currently on order, to the Air France fleet with a more economical cabin configuration.
All Joon flights currently sold or for sale would of course be operated by Joon until the project is completed, and then taken over by Air France.
The simplification of the brand portfolio, while capitalising on the Air France mother brand, is an undeniable asset for our employees, our customers, and indeed all stake holders. It would also enable Air France to complete this integration without impacting the efficiency of the Air France-KLM Group   

Joon's demise isn't a surprise explains our chief aviation correspondent, Jason Shaw, "It was an expensive start-up, it was targeted at the niche millennial market, excluding everyone else, its discounted fares didn't attract the vast swathes of people, yet meant yields were relatively low. It caused confusion in the marketplace. Plus, with Ben Smith taking over the top job, a new focus on cutting costs and expanding high revenue premium services has emerged within the corporate ethos of the airline."
  

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