EVA Air to end male flight attendant ban as strike action drags on
A flight attendants strike impacting Taiwan’s EVA Airways will lead to more than 900 flight in total cancellations as the airline announced it will hire male cabin crew for the first time.
Industrial action began late last week with the airline scrapping 150 flights over the weekend, leading to about $19 million in lost revenue.
It is likely to impact travel plans of more than 100,000 passengers booked on flights this week.
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union says it involves about 50% of EVA’s cabin crew workforce and will continue until June 28.
The union is seeking higher basic and overtime pay, and better working conditions.
Deputy transportation minister Wang Kwo-tsai urged the two parties to resume talks however there are no signs that airline management will compromise.
EVA says it will be able to maintain scheduled operations at about 40% and stopped accepting new bookings on June 21.
Partly as a result of the strike, it will now begin hiring male flight attendants for the first time, which will include foreign nationals, EVA president Clay Sun said.
It already has a group of new recruits but training has been pushed back as instructors have been deployed to cover for striking crew members.
The first batch of male cabin crew will come from existing ground crew workers due to their familiarity with operations and company culture.
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