Air France, which lost an A330 passenger jet with 228 people aboard on June 1, has promised not to allow its A330 and A340 planes to fly from Tuesday until they have all been equipped with new speed monitors, a pilots' union said on Tuesday.

As more bodies and debris from Flight A447 were recovered by salvage crews from the Atlantic Ocean, Air France is racing to modify its A330 and A340 planes, saying none of those planes will fly from Tuesday unless at least two of its three pitots are replaced with newer models.

"That's to say, they'll all be modified today, even if that causes delays," said a trade union official.

The promise came after Air France management called the pilots' union on Monday night "to inform them on the work to replace Pitot probes," and "gave an extremely tight calendar ... of a few days."

Last week's disaster over the Atlantic Ocean took the lives of all 228 people on board. Investigations now focus on the sensor on the A330 aircraft, with speculation that the plane may have iced up during a storm, which gave false speed data to the cockpit.

On Monday, the minority Alter union advised pilots not to fly these planes until their speed monitors are replaced.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2009)