Travels by plane, carrying French mate and clans (8)
I believe the answer is:
families
'clans' is the definition.
(family is a kind of clan)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for families that I've seen before include "File Siam wrongly under social units" , "Primary social groups" , "Parents and their children - lots of them" , "Groups related to one another by blood or marriage" , "Kinship groups" .)