French Minister of Finance Bruno Le Marie warned the airline workers’ union on Monday that Air France is on the brink of bankruptcy, and will go under if strikes continue. Despite holding a majority stake in the Airline, Le Marie said the French government will not come to the rescue and bail the corporation out in the event it goes under. The workers are demanding a 5% wage increase, and have carried out a series of rolling strikes over the last few months that have cost the airline some $300 million Euros, roughly $360 million. Company shares were down 13% at the start of this week.
See "Air France Dispute Threatens to Escalate Macron’s Battle With Labor", Liz Alderman, New York Times, May 7, 2018