《TAIPEI TIMES》 MOTC pledges to help restore EVA

ACHIEVING NORMALCY: Given the number of dropped flights, EVA Airways said it estimates its transport capacity would not be fully restored until the end of this month

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

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The Ministry of Transportation and Communications （MOTC） yesterday said it would supervise EVA Airways Corp until the airline returns to full transport capacity, after a labor strike organized by the airline’s flight attendants ended on Saturday.

Despite the signing of a collective agreement between the union and management on Saturday, the airline has already announced that some flights would be canceled until July 21.

Given the number of dropped flights, the airline estimates that its transport capacity would not be fully restored until the end of this month or the beginning of next month, which means that air travelers would still feel the repercussions of the strike, the ministry said.

“The Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Tourism Bureau will continue to oversee EVA Airways as it watches out for travelers and travel agents and helps travelers switch to other carriers until the airline’s transport capacity is fully restored,” it said.

During the strike, the ministry held 15 emergency response meetings to ensure that EVA Airways’ domestic service was unaffected and that a certain amount of transport capacity was maintained in its international service, it said.

The airline and travel agents are negotiating over compensation for damage caused by the strike, the ministry said.

“The civil aviation industry is part of the public transport system. A strike by airline employees is not only a labor-management dispute. A strike affects travelers and goes against the public’s interest. We, as the overseer of airlines, should by law urge the union and management to quickly settle disputes,” the ministry said, adding: “We hope that the labor regulations will undergo a comprehensive review after this strike so that they can keep the balance between workers’ right to strike and the public interest.”

The ministry would review an airline’s right to operate certain routes when employees have a higher chance of going on strike and management handles it inappropriately, MOTC Minister Lin Chia-lung （林佳龍） said on Friday.

The airline said that it canceled 1,440 flights from June 20 to Saturday, affecting about 278,000 passengers.

As of Friday, EVA Airways’ estimated financial losses — not including compensation to travelers and to travel agents for tour groups — topped NT$2.78 billion （US$89.37 million）.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES