China Airlines has cancelled at least 22 flights due to a strike by its pilots during the peak lunar new year travel period.
Most of the cancelled flights were international departures from Taipei Taoyuan scheduled for after 16:00 local time on 8 February, although there are also some cancellations out of Kaohsiung, Tainan and Osaka Kansai.
The Taiwanese flag carrier says about 10% of its flights will be affected, impacting 4,000 passengers. It adds that it will prioritise manpower and aircraft to consolidate flights, and maintain its operations as much as possible.
Its pilots, led by the Pilots Union Taoyuan, are demanding better pay, subsidies and working hours.
China Airlines says it has increased annual manpower costs by NT$120 million ($3.89 million) to meet some of the demands by the pilots. It adds that it is still keen to continue talks but that the union is demanding that it agree to all conditions before returning to the negotiating table.
The carriers and its pilots reached partial consensus on some issues last August following negotiations. The plan was to continue talks for another year over unresolved issues.
China Airlines also pointed out that a flight attendant strike in 2016 crippled its schedule and resulted in losses of NT$500 million.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
