Flight from fight: Air France managers flee from angry staff who stormed mass job cuts meeting

Air France managers fled a meeting on Monday about mass job cuts after angry staff waving banners and flags stormed the room.

The airline’s human resources and labour relations chief, Xavier Broseta, had his shirt ripped off and his tie hanging from his neck as he battling through crowds of workers, seeking to escape.

Watch: Air France jobs strike turns ugly

Broseta and Air France chief executive Frederic Gagey had been outlining a drastic cost-cutting plan, described by the company as “Plan B” after it failed to persuade its pilots to accept a less radical one earlier this year.

Violent protests by workers are commonplace in France, where the population has a long tradition of taking the law into its own hands. There have been many this year, as the country struggles to come out of an economic downturn.