Pilots from China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) remain on strike after the second round of negotiations between the pilots’ union and the airline yesterday again failed to reach a consensus on the issue of overwork, according to the Taoyuan Union of Pilots.
There was almost no common ground between the management and workers, union board director Chen Pei-pei (陳蓓蓓) said after four hours of talks mediated by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
“I was very surprised that CAL did not bring any new proposals to the table. They seemed to be just repeating the conclusions of our last meeting,” Chen said.
“We compromised on four points, but the airline did not make any changes to its positions,” she said.
China Airlines President Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙) said the company extended an olive branch by agreeing to schedule three crew members on red-eye flights of more than seven hours, but the offer was not accepted by the union.
China Airlines said it was confused that after the first round of talks, it met the key demands proposed by the union — essentially four pilots for flights of over 12 hours and three pilots for those of over eight hours — but the union kept bringing up new demands, making further concessions impossible.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材), the ministry's point man in the labor dispute, was hoping for a better result.
“I was very disappointed with the outcome, and I hope both sides can calm down and come up with better solutions,” Wang said.
The main issue separating China Airlines and its pilots is work hours on regional flights and how many hours constitute “overwork.”
The first round of negotiations last week broke down because the airline insisted it would only schedule three flight crew members on flights of over eight hours, while the pilots were asking for three pilots on flights of over seven hours.
Chen said the union yesterday agreed to the eight-hour threshold for three pilots, but was still demanding a seven-hour threshold for pilots flying multi-sector cargo flights.
Regional flights account for 40 percent of the airline's schedule and take eight hours on average for a round trip.
Wang yesterday announced that China Airlines passengers whose trips were disrupted by the pilots’ strike and who were not traveling as part of a tour group would receive US$250 compensation each.
China Airlines was previously only willing to offer independent travelers US$100 as compensation for the inconvenience.
Travelers in tour groups would be compensated based on the amount reported by their travel agency, he said.
At the Grand Hotel in Taipei yesterday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) spoke about the labor dispute before addressing Taiwanese businesspeople based in China, saying that the government has been monitoring developments closely.
“We hope that both sides can sit down, and appeal to reason and flexibility during the negotiations,” she said.
The airline canceled 28 flights today, according to the latest flight information on its official Web site.
The 28 canceled flights include two flights from Taipei to Sydney and two round-trips between Taipei and Hong Kong, as well as three inbound flights from Vienna to Taipei, from Sydney to Taipei and from Osaka to Kaohsiung, the Web site showed.
For a complete list of China Airlines cancelations, visit www.china-airlines.com/au/en/discover/news/press-release/ announcement.
Passengers of the canceled flights are instead to board flights by Tigerair Taiwan (台灣虎航), Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) and other carriers.
Tigerair Taiwan and Mandarin Airlines are subsidiaries of China Airlines.
Wang said that China Airlines’ flight demand this week is expected to fall by 30 percent, as the Lunar New Year holiday ended on Sunday.
Other carriers would also have more seats to accommodate China Airlines passengers now that the holiday is over, he said.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned