After an arduous seven-day strike, pilots of Taiwan's biggest carrier have finally reached an amicable deal with the company. According to local media reports, China Airlines has reportedly reached a deal with its pilots over their demands regarding their working conditions and their benefits.
Both parties had agreed to meet to formally sign an agreement that would finally put an end to the pilot's industrial action. China Airlines representatives along with the representatives from the Taoyuan Union of Pilots signed the agreement in front of Taiwan's transport and labor chiefs. Also present during the signing of the agreement was Vice-Premier Chen Chi-mai.
During his speech after the signing of the agreement, the Vice Premier of the Republic of China expressed his relief regarding the end of the strike, which had inconvenienced a lot of people in the country. Since the strike had begun, more than 200 flights were canceled including dozens of flights to and from mainland China and Hong Kong. The canceled flights resulted in more than 50,000 stranded passengers and over US$22 million in losses for China Airlines.
Over 600 pilots participated in the strike, which took place at the peak of the Lunar New Year holiday celebrations. Thousands of stranded passengers criticized both the airline and the pilots while demanding that they arrive at a settlement soon. China Airlines had to reimburse hundreds of passengers during the strike, adding to their already substantial losses.
According to the country's labor minister, Liu Shih-hao, the agreement was not easily reached as it took quite a number of intensive talks with both parties. Under the new deal, the pilot's union has agreed that they can no longer launch an industrial action for the next three and a half years. In return, the airline has agreed to some of their major demands, which includes the increase in the number of pilots assigned for various flights.
Pilots had previously complained that there were simply not enough of them to handle all of the airline's flights. The increase in the number of pilots is meant to combat pilot's fatigue, which will, in turn, improve overall safety. As stated in the deal, there will now be three pilots assigned to flights taking eight hours or more. Meanwhile, flights over 12 hours will have four pilots assigned to them.
China Airlines also agreed to remove any penalties incurred by pilots during their strike. In return, the pilot's union retracted their request to have some of the airline's senior managers removed from their positions.
