Air France bosses have shirts ripped from their backs as they escape furious employee mob

Two senior executives of Air France had their shirts ripped off their backs after being cornered by a furious mob protesting against job cuts at the airline.

Assistant HR director Xavier Broseta found himself pitched in the middle of a scrum after several hundred employees invaded the offices of Air France, interrupting a meeting of the company's Central Committee (CCE) in Roissy-en-France. Furious employees shouted: "A poil, à poil" (off with his clothes, off with his clothes).

The crowd descended as Air France-KLM unveiled a restructuring plan that could lead to 2,900 job losses.

The head of Air France in Orly, Pierre Plissonnier, also had his clothes torn as he was hounded from the scene.

The company announced the first forced dismissals since the 1990s after failing to reach a deal with pilots, who had been asked to work more hours for the same pay to help end annual losses that began in 2011.

Some 300 cockpit crew could go, together with 900 flight attendants and 1,700 ground staff, Air France told a meeting with its works council, a representative of the UNAC cabin-crew union said.

The briefing was interrupted for a period when protesters stormed the room.

The Air France fleet would be reduced by 14 aircraft, UNAC said, with the cancellation of 787 Dreamliners and phasing out of Airbus Group SE A340s, and weaker routes would shut.

The changes would require a shrinking of Air France’s network, with a reduction in frequencies and more sweeping seasonal capacity cuts next year, following by the termination of some routes in 2017, especially to Asia, where competition is toughest. Frequencies to 22 destinations would be affected.

Job cuts cannot be implemented before mid-December at the earliest, given French legal requirements, leaving about two months for the two sides to agree an alternative way forward, should negotiations resume.

Alexandre de Juniac, Air France's CEO, insisted that bosses were "available at all times to re-open negotiations with unions".

"We remain determined to put in place changes that are indispensible to guarantee Air France's future and enable it to finance its development," he said.

"The company's recovery can only be accomplished with the commitment of all of its staff."

Air France has avoided making staff redundant in recent years, relying instead on attrition and early retirement packages to reduce the payroll by 9,000 over three years.

The last time it sought to dismiss staff, in 1993, weeks of walkouts cost the job of CEO Bernard Attali.

Air France said it would submit a formal aggravated assault complaint against those responsible for the mob scenes in Roissy.

“These attacks were made by isolated and particularly violent individuals as the demonstration by personnel on strike was going on calmly,” Air France said in a statement.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who has backed management over the restructuring drive, said he was "scandalised by this unnacceptable violence".