China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空) chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒) yesterday promised to compensate travel agencies for any financial losses they incurred due to a strike last week by the airline’s flight attendants, adding that he is to speak with representatives from the Taipei Association of Travel Agents today.
The strike launched by the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union on Thursday night last week forced the airline to cancel 122 flights on Friday and Saturday.
While the airline resumed normal operations yesterday, the Travel Agent Association of the Republic of China estimated that more than 10,000 travelers as part of tour groups and 300 travel agencies were affected by the strike, with combined losses of more than NT$100 million (US$3.08 million).
Photo: CNA
Ho said that the airline is willing to cover the losses incurred by travel agents.
“It is our fault, not theirs,” he said. “Our principle is that we should pay for the damage we caused and discuss the details with travel agents.”
Should Ho’s negotiations with the Taipei association go smoothly, it said it would use decisions reached by CAL and the travel agent’s association and seek compensation following the same principles.
If CAL refuses to accept that, the Taipei association said it would collect receipts from travel agencies affected by the strike and seek compensation via legal channels.
The Taipei association said that compensation from the airline should cover losses caused by the strike, including reimbursement for travelers who were unable to take flights as scheduled.
The airline said in a statement that it would compensate individual travelers and tour groups affected by the strike provided that it receives receipts of additional or non-refundable costs caused by the action.
Each passenger will receive a voucher of US$100. Individual travelers will each receive an additional US$100 in cash. Each affected passenger would receive an additional US$100 in subsidy, the airline said.
Ho is also to meet with representatives of the China Airlines Employees Union, after that group threatened to strike if its members are not given the same benefits the company promised to the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union.
The employees’ union has six divisions: workers at offices in Taipei and Taoyuan, pilots, flight attendants, maintenance workers, ground crew and employees at its branch office in Kaohsiung.
The employees’ union said that its members are to attend a meeting of CAL directors and supervisors today to present its demands.
Employees’ union chairman Ko Tso-liang (葛作亮) said that the airline has about 8,000 ground crew.
Ko said he would present the union’s demands to Ho, including that the workers should be paid the same as others in the same position.
He said that the group would ask to be allowed to clock in for work at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) rather than at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, as the flight attendants’ union had demanded.
If the negotiations fail, the employees’ union would activate procedures to go on strike, he said.
Unlike the flight attendants’ union, Ko said that his group would give the company one week’s notice before any action began.
Ho said that ground crew were the most miserable amid last week’s strike, because they had nothing to do with what happened, but had to deal with complaints from the public directly.
Ho said that he would definitely meet with the employees’ union and talk about how to reach an agreement.
He did not say whether the airline would accept the employees’ union’s demands.
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