By Jean Christou
CYPRUS Airways (CY) said yesterday it managed to fly 5,000 passengers, despite a strike by the majority of its pilots.
Airline spokesman Tassos Angelis said management’s contingency plan had gone ahead “with very little inconvenience”.
“We carried 5,000 passengers to and from their destinations and we will do the same for 4,500 on Friday (today),” he said.
Members of the pilots union Pasipy called a 48-hour strike after a dispute with management over captain promotions in CY’s charter firm Eurocypria which they covet.
The new strike action, due to end at midnight tonight, came only a day after a 24-hour strike grounded 11 flights and caused delays to 3,000 passengers on Tuesday.
“Today, everything went okay, there were no problems,” Angelis said. He said seven flights went out early in the morning as originally planned using CY pilots who are members of the airline’s biggest union Cynika. A further seven flights left with a minimum of delays, with aircraft leased from abroad, Angelis said.
During Tuesday’s strike, Cynika pilots failed to show up for work after threats from Pasipy members to report them to the International Pilots Union. This threw CY’s plans into chaos leading it to make two contingency plans for the current strike.
The only glitch yesterday with reports of tension as the Cynika pilots tried to cross the picket line at Larnaca Airport early yesterday morning. Riot police had been stationed at the scene to keep the peace.
Cynika president Costas Demetriou said the members of his union had reported for work as usual yesterday.
He said he didn’t want to discuss reports of a fracas. “It was a picket line but it was controlled well by the police,” he said. Demetriou accused Pasipy of exerting “psychological pressure” and “blackmail” on his members by circulating a leaflet to Cynika pilots urging them to “think again”.
He said Pasipy members had also called the Cynika pilots by telephone to make their point.
“We live in a democracy. Everyone has a right to claim what he wants, but the other side has the right to have a different opinion,” he said “It’s not correct to strike for something you don’t believe in.”
A Pasipy spokesman, Andreas Matheou, condemned Cynika pilots for breaking the strike. “We have been in direct contact with international organisations about it,” he said.
“We also condemn the presence of riot police at a picket line. It constituted tremendous psychological pressure.”
He denied reports that Pasipy members had behaved badly. “There was no conflict,” he said.
Matheou also criticised Cyprus Airways for leasing planes to carry stranded passengers — who included Defence Minister Yinnakis Chrysostomis.
“I don’t know what kind of planes they are using,” he said.
“We are looking into this.” He added the company was jeopardising the good name of the airline by its actions.
Angelis categorically denied allegations that aircraft leased were not up to standard. “The planes chartered belong to European and American companies which comply with international regulations and have air safety standard certificates,” he said.
“It seems the pilots are over-concerned about the safety of re-arranged flights when these are the passengers they were trying to keep hostage in Cyprus by preventing them from reaching their destinations.”
Pasipy spokesman George Charlambous told the Cyprus Mailyesterday afternoon that no decision had been taken on the next step. “We will wait and assess the situation,” he said.
