Taiwan’s EVA Air plans to hire first male cabin crew as strike grounds hundreds of flights
- Management announces plans to recruit more staff amid ongoing industrial action by flight attendants
- Unions criticise announcement and urges company to address existing staff’s demands
Taiwan’s EVA Air said on Monday it planned to recruit male flight attendants for the first time in the wake of a cabin crew strike that forced it to ground hundreds of flights.
Central News Agency reported that the airline made the decision after a shareholders’ meeting.
The company said it would recruit about 200 flight attendants this year, including men and foreigners.
All EVA Air’s 4,200 flight attendants were women, CNA reported.
“There will not be any difference between jobs for male and female flight attendants, and they will be paid at the same rates,” EVA president Clay Sun said.
But the flight attendants union criticised the airline management for hiring new recruits rather than heeding the demands of incumbent cabin crew.
Union leaders accused EVA of trying to intimidate striking employees by announcing the hiring plans.
Taiwan’s government has urged both sides to talk and end the impasse as soon as possible, with deputy transport minister Wang Kwo-tsai saying on Monday that he understood from the management that the hiring drive was routine and was not intended to replace striking workers, United Daily News reported.
An EVA spokesperson said on Monday that the strike would force the airline to scrap at least 852 flights in the eight days to June 28.
Flights between Taipei and Hong Kong – one of the world’s busiest air routes – as well as from Taiwan to Japan, Singapore, London and New York will be affected, according to EVA Air’s website.
The attendants are demanding higher pay and better working conditions, with their union voting to strike last week after negotiations with the company failed.
The action, which started on Thursday, involves more than 2,000 staff, according to the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union’s Facebook page.
That would amount to almost half EVA Air’s flight attendant roster as of May 31, data on its website shows. The airline said it was seeking to continue discussions with the attendants.
The cancellations are already affecting the airline. More than 150 flights were cancelled between June 20 and June 23, resulting in about NT$580 million (US$19 million) of lost revenue, the company said in a statement on Sunday. Its shares have dropped 4.5 per cent since the close of trading on Thursday.
Asked how the company planned to deal with the impasse, Sun said EVA would endeavour to ensure “sustainable operations to support all of its 20,000 employees”.
Sun said there would be more communication between top management and employees, CNA reported.
The strike is the second in Taiwan this year.
Staff at China Airlines, Taiwan’s largest carrier, took action in February, stopping work for seven days. Pilots reached a deal with China Airlines on compensation that was estimated to add about NT$114 million to the carrier’s annual costs.
Additional reporting by Jane Zhang
