BEIRUT: Middle East Airlines chairman Mohammad Hout warned Wednesday that he may be compelled to fire pilots if they continue their ongoing strike, reiterating the company is suffering losses as a result of this strike.
“I will send them [pilots] to their homes if they carried out another strike in the future. The management has taken a decision to cut five days salary each month from every pilot who took part in the strike to make up for the losses the carrier incurred,” Hout told The Daily Star.
He stressed that this decision was irrevocable since the law allowed the company to take such action in such an event.
Hout did not disclose the actual losses the airline incurred but it is believed the figure is substantial.
However, the Association of Lebanese Pilots decided to continue their strike until the management revoked its warning to the pilots and paid their salaries in full.
The ALP said in a statement that the pilots could no longer bear the “arbitrary” decision-making of the airline’s general manager.
The association stressed that strikes were protected by the law if the employer breached the contracts.
The strike was prompted by the termination of a cancer stricken pilot’s employment. The pilot had served in the company for 38 years.
Hout insisted that the sick pilot had received all his rights from the company and had been treated fairly and in accordance with the Lebanese law.
MEA succeeded in running a number of flights from Beirut airport after some pilots refused to join the strike.
“We have 22 pilots who are still flying with us and this number will get bigger,” Hout said.
He added that the management cut the salaries of the striking pilots because the company can no longer tolerate such behavior.
“We are doing this for the sake of the company. We can’t live in a situation where every six months we have a strike. This not acceptable,” the chairman said firmly.
Hout said there was no decision yet to hire foreign pilots to fly MEA aircrafts if the strike continued.
“But I did receive many applications from Lebanese pilots who are willing to join the company,” the chairman said.
Hout added that the airline was hardly able to make ends meet before the strike took place. “We managed to break even before the strike due to the delicate situation. We did not incur losses this year but the results were not up to expectations,” he said.
The ALP did not show any sign of leniency and warned that they would escalate the situation if their demands were not met. However, it did hold talks with Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas in an attempt to find an exit to the crisis
MEA runs 15 Airbus planes and flies to more than 33 destinations.
The company managed to make good profits in 2007, 2008 and 2009 as the number of passengers using the airline grew considerably.
The Central Bank controls the majority of MEA’s shares.