Walkout by Pilots an Embarrassment

A strike by Air France pilots created deep embarrassment for the country, which is about to host the world’s biggest sporting event: World Cup soccer. Despite pressure from the government, most of the state-run carrier’s 3,200 pilots walked out to protest $83 million in annual pay cuts. They are threatening to stay out for two weeks or more. That would be well into the World Cup, which is scheduled to start June 10 and be played in 10 cities across France for a month. The first day of the strike, 100,000 would-be passengers were sent scrambling. Meanwhile, the airline announced a meeting with the pilots union for this afternoon--the first meeting since talks broke down Thursday.