As head of the Air France section of the Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne, he organized a ten-day strike at Air France, just before the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In 2001, he became president of Air Lib, airline created with the merger of AOM French Airlines and Air Liberté.
In July 2001, Jean-Charles Corbet, through Holdco society, proposed to resume the group's assets AOM / Air Liberté, while on probation for one euro. Although not having any credit standing or experience as a business leader, his offer was accepted by the court of Creteil. The recovery plan was complemented by a commitment of Swissair, a previous AOM shareholder, to pay US$1.250 billion to Holdco, only some of which will be paid. The change of government in 2002, and the appointment of Dominique Bussereau as Secretary of State for Transport, lead to the non-renewal of a loan granted status in December 2001, to Air Lib, by former Communist minister of transports and, on the advice of the new transport minister, the non-renewal of the operating license of the airline. The bankruptcy of Air Lib in 2003, resulted in the layoff of 3,200 employees of the company. Following the layoff, a parliamentary committee interviewed Corbet on the use of money paid by Swissair and the heritage of the company. The chairman of the parliamentary commission accused the then-leader of Air Lib to have misappropriated funds and transmitted its report to Justice. During the trial that followed, the prosecutor qualify the management company as an "methodically organized looting". On Tuesday, September 25, 2007, the Paris court sentenced him to eighteen months in prison and 3 million in damages. He was convicted for not having devoted to Air Lib, all 150 million paid by Swissair while other transfers were made to other group companies, Holdco. On February 27, 2009, the Paris Court of Appeals upheld the conviction. Corbet expressed through his lawyers, his intention to appeal. June 30, 2010, the Court of Cassation dismissed his appeal, arguing that it was not for him to challenge the decisions of lower courts and thus rendered final his sentence to 18 months in prison for not allocated funds that had contractually and permanently been given to Swissair, according to the protocol signed between the Swiss company and him on 31 July and 1 August 2001.
