Airline LAN has announced that the industrial action currently being undertaken by unionized pilots will not affect the provision of services to LAN customers.
Director of Corporate Affairs at LAN Colombia, Maria Lara, said that there are only 29 pilots who have joined “Operation No Overtime” – in which the pilots are refusing to work overtime – and that they will be able to continue to provide the services with the airline’s remaining 207 pilots without affecting any itineraries.
Lara said: “We have no passengers that will be affected, no fear of flight cancellations or changed itineraries associated with this protest by a small group of pilots.”
Wages are said to not be a central issue in the dispute between the airline and the pilots’ union Acdac, but rather “fringe benefits.”
Lara added that negotiations over the collective agreement will begin at the end of the year and will involve two separate petitions, one for the 207 pilots who are not unionized and the other for the 29 pilots who are Acdac members.
Recently, pilots of Colombia’s largest airline, Avianca, who were also members of Acdac, began a similar industrial action. Almost 1000 pilots refused to work overtime for 21 days, necessitating the cancellation of 331 domestic flights per day. Around half of those pilots agreed to end the industrial action on Wednesday, October 2nd, after agreeing to a 11% increase to their salary.
MORE: Pilots reach agreement with Avianca over salary increase
Sources
Pilotos de LAN sindicalizados reclaman beneficios extralegales y no salariales (Caracol Radio)