Air France-KLM said on Thursday it would accelerate cost-cutting measures and cut planned investments by more than €600 million ($683 million) as economic weakness in Europe drives a “cautious” approach over the next two years for the struggling company. The plans came to light as the company reported a 2.3-percent decline in sales for 2014 and a €425 million ($484 million) margin hit caused by a two-week pilot strike in September. It also retracted its September 2014 financial target for 2017 in recognition that it will not benefit from a significant fall in fuel prices. Air France-KLM targets a unit cost reduction of 1 to 1.3 percent, a net debt of €5 billion ($5.7 billion) and a significantly reduced goal of an 8- to 10 percent earnings growth for 2015.

While sales dropped to €24.9 billion ($28.4 billion) in 2014, Editba margin fell 14.33 percent year-over-year, to €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion). Air France-KLM CFO Pierre-François Riolacci estimated that the margin would have reached €2.1 billion ($2.4 billion) if not for the work action. “Without the strike we would have seen a substantial improvement on the Ebitda margin,” he insisted.

Long-haul traffic suffered in 2014, registering a minimal increase of 0.2 percent, to 77.45 million passengers. Meanwhile, low-fare Dutch subsidiary Transavia saw traffic increase to 9.9 million passengers from 8.9 million a year earlier. Cargo activity sank by 2.9 percent to 1,302 tons for the full year. The company’s MRO business registered a 3.4-percent increase in sales, to €3.392 billion ($3.862 billion), and an order book of €5.6 billion ($6.38 billion), equivalent to four and a half years of activity.

Cost cutting remains a recurrent theme within the company. Job cuts will continue in 2015, including 1,300 departures during the first half of the year. Air France also unveiled some aspects of its new Perform 2020 strategy, a plan that follows the Transform 2015 platform. The first goal calls for a savings of €650 million ($740 billion) by 2017 thanks largely to strict capacity discipline. Plans call for only a 1.5-percent average increase for the whole company, including fast-growing Transavia. In cargo, the company has adjusted capacity downward by 23 percent. However, the company’s MRO business will benefit from investments in North America and Asia to keep up with a growing demand in those regions.

CEO of Air France-KLM Alexandre de Juniac said planned investments in products and marketing would include the installation of premium seats on two-thirds of the fleet by the end of 2015 and new partnerships with Asian companies. “We are looking east,” Juniac said. Transavia, meanwhile, will remain a strong development lever. “We forecast a huge growth for Transavia; we want to carry 16 million passengers by 2017 with 61 aircraft,” he said.