Businesspeople, holidaymakers angry and confused as dozens of flights grounded due to industrial action
There were angry scenes at Taiwanese airports on Friday as businesspeople and holidaymakers became the victims of the industrial action by pilots from China Airlines demanding better working conditions.
“I need to go to Hong Kong for work, but out of the blue they told me my flight was cancelled,” said a passenger at Kaohsiung International Airport, who gave his name as Hsu.
Another man, with the surname Chen, said that after initially being told by staff his China Airlines flight to Hong Kong had been cancelled he was offered a seat on a flight to neighbouring Macau.
“But then 10 minutes later, they told me there were no seats,” he said.
China Airlines, Taiwan’s largest carrier, said earlier that at least 26 inbound and outbound flights would be cancelled between Friday and Sunday, including ones to Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Bangkok and Manila. About half of them were scheduled to depart from Kaohsiung.
At a news conference on Friday morning, the airline apologised for the inconvenience caused but sought to pass the blame to the pilots, saying their “unreasonable” demands had led to a breakdown in talks between management and union representatives.
