A shake-up of Air France's corporate structure will see the carrier decentralised into eight separate business units from 1 January 2013, says chief executive Alexandre de Juniac.

Passenger operations will be divided into long-haul and medium-haul at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport; Paris Orly airport; and the regional airports. The remaining four units comprise Air France's French regional hub Transavia France; cargo; industrial operations; and Servair.

In a presentation to the airline's management on 15 October, de Juniac said that the reorganisation - part of Air France-KLM's Transform 2015 restructuring plan - aims to achieve greater operational and economic efficiency "through a more modern form of human resources management".

Each unit will be tasked with improving economic performance, controlling costs and following up the implementation of Transform 2015. They will also all be represented on the airline's executive committee.

The decentralisation does not extend to all departments, however, with sales and marketing; revenue network; cockpit and cabin crews; and administration - such as human resources, finance and communication - all remaining cross-functional.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news