Founded in 1959, China Airlines is Taiwan’s biggest civilian aircraft operator focusing on international passenger and cargo flights. The company’s biggest shareholder is the government, with a 34% stake.
China Airlines’ flight attendants went on strike unexpectedly on June 24th, the day its new chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan took over. The carrier was forced to cancel more than 120 flights late last week, affecting more than 30,000 passengers. In negotiations on Friday night, a consensus was reached on overtime, holiday guarantees, and subsidies for flight attendants assigned to work overseas.
Premier Lin Chuan has praised the airline for ending the strike swiftly and successfully, but critics have accused the company of losing the public’s trust. Investment firm CEO Hsieh Jin-ho said China Airlines will probably never recover from the strike as employees pursued their own benefits at the expense of consumers’ interests and the company’s image.
Ruling DPP lawmaker Kuo Jeng-liang criticized the government for what he called its “mishandling” of the strike. Kuo asked how the airline could make concessions before negotiations between management and staff had even started.
But the airline’s chairman said the company decided to yield to the union in order to avoid bigger losses in the future. It is estimated that the cancelled flights will result in NT$1.1 billion in losses (that’s about US$36.6 million) for the airline. And taxpayers will foot the NT$380 million (US$12.6 million) bill.
Meanwhile, the airline reached another consensus with its ground staff demanding equal treatment on Tuesday.