MIDDLE GROUND: CAL has already agreed to dispatch more pilots and regional flights should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, the transport ministry said
Taipei Times
Date: Feb 11, 2019
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Returning passengers line up at immigration at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has offered the Taoyuan Union of Pilots a third path to consider in dealing with fatigue among China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) pilots, it said yesterday, adding that it would keep its doors open for negotiations as the pilots’ strike continued for a third day.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) made the announcement at the conclusion of an emergency response meeting held after the airline and union failed to reach an agreement on how to resolve pilot fatigue during six hours of negotiations on Saturday.
The airline’s management agreed to dispatch three pilots when the expected flight time exceeds eight hours, but the union said that the limit should be set at seven hours.
The company said the union’s proposal would be hard to implement, as many regional routes have flight times of between seven and eight hours and it would not have enough pilots to dispatch on those flights, Wang said. [FULL STORY]
