PARIS (CNN) -- The pilots' strike against Air France entered its third day Wednesday, with the sides apparently no closer to agreement than they were at the beginning of the work action that threatens the World Cup soccer tournament.

Air France is the official airline of the month-long World Cup, which will be played at 10 stadiums around the country beginning June 10.

The pilots' main union called for a 15-day job action to protest 500 million francs (US$83 million) in pay cuts. The company has offered stock in exchange for the cuts, but union leader Jean-Charles Corbet said after Tuesday's talks that the dispute "will probably be long, it will probably be tough ... and devastating for the balance sheet."

More negotiations were scheduled for Wednesday. The airline has also offered to do away with a payment schedule that gives new pilots lower salaries.

Other strikes were in the works: Paris transit workers planned to walk out Thursday and national rail workers Friday, while Air France mechanics and French train engineers threatened to strike.

Air France loses about 100 million francs (US$16.7 million) a day while its pilots are striking. The airline said Wednesday's schedule included only 17 percent of its usual long-distance flights and 30 percent of its short- and medium-haul flights from Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport, and 43 percent from Orly airport.

The state-owned airline is keen to settle the situation before the start of the prestigious soccer tournament. Already teams originally scheduled to fly Air France are making alternate plans, while spectators do the same.

"I can't imagine that the pilots -- at the moment where the world's eyes are turned to France for this great celebration that is the World Cup -- will paralyze the country," said Air France president Jean-Cyril Spinetta.

The strike also poses problems for potential investors: the French government is preparing to sell 20 percent of the company on the stock market later this year.

"What could scare off investors is a risk of strikes in the future, the possibility of further strikes in the years to come," said analyst Nicolas Baudouin of the ratings agency Standard & Poors.

Those fears may rule out an idea Spinetta floated on Tuesday for a truce that would bring the pilots back to work but postpone talks until after the World Cup. Spinetta also said the company was going forward with its plan to cut wages.