China Airlines Chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan says the airline made concessions to striking flight attendants in order to avoid bigger losses in the future.
The flag carrier was forced to cancel more than 120 flights late last week after flight attendants went on strike. In negotiations on Friday night, the airline reached a consensus with flight attendants on overtime, holiday guarantees, and subsidies for flight attendants assigned to work overseas.
It’s estimated that the cancelled flights will result in NT$1.1 billion Taiwan in losses (that’s about US$36.6 million) for the airline. It’s expected that taxpayers will foot the NT$380 million (US$ 12.6 million). That’s because the company’s biggest shareholder is the government, with a 34% stake.