China Airlines agrees to meet pilot union after strike causes travel chaos with cancellations of 12 Hong Kong-Taiwan flights
- Union wants extra manpower on long-haul flights, but airline management says competitiveness of company is at stake
Taiwan’s largest airline has agreed to a Saturday meeting with its pilots’ union and transport officials after a strike forced the cancellation of 32 flights, including at least 12 to or from Hong Kong.
China Airlines scrapped five Hong Kong flights scheduled for Friday – three between the city and Taipei, and two between Hong Kong and Kaohsiung, according to the company’s website.
It also cancelled four Saturday flights between Hong Kong and Kaohsiung and three between Taipei and Hong Kong. Six have been delayed.
The airline’s branch of the Taoyuan Pilots Union launched industrial action at 6am on Friday. China Airlines reacted on its Facebook page at about 4pm with a statement saying it would respond to the union’s demands and meet representatives and government officials on Saturday afternoon.
Wang Kwo-tsai, Taiwan’s deputy minister for transport, said on Friday afternoon that the meeting would start at 3pm on Saturday – one day later than a prior suggestion by his boss Lin Chia-lung, who had floated a time of 4pm on Friday.
The union said: “The strike will go on until China Airlines agrees to meet our demands.”