Air France, Airbus Convicted in AF447 Crash; Lecornu Unveils Fuel Aid

Thursday in Paris turned on two unrelated decisions. At the Court of Appeal, an eight-week trial that had begun in September 2025 ended with both Air France and Airbus convicted of involuntary manslaughter over the 1 June 2009 crash of Flight AF447 — the first criminal finding against the companies in a case that has now run seventeen years. Daniele Lamy, who leads the AF447 victims' association and lost her son in the crash, said the justice system was "at last, taking into account the pain of the families faced with a collective tragedy of unbearable brutality." The court attached its conclusion to specific findings: Airbus had underestimated repeated pitot probe failures and had failed to warn operating crews; Air France had failed to provide training tailored to high-altitude pitot-tube icing. Each company was ordered to pay €225,000 — the statutory maximum, criticised as token by family groups — and Airbus said it would take the case to the Court of Cassation.

At the Hôtel Matignon, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu set out a €710 million package aimed at the household-energy effects of the Middle East war. The headline element doubles the ceiling on the tax-free employer "fuel bonus" from €300 to €600 with simplified eligibility; the €50 "high-mileage" allowance for low-income commuters is extended by three more months. Lecornu had warned parliament earlier in the day that his promised €6 billion in spending cuts would need to be revisited to account for the war's effect on energy inflation and conflict-risk premiums, framing the new aid as the latest instalment of a broader recalibration rather than a one-off support measure.