While a network-disrupting pilots’ strike has ended with a new collective baragaining agreement, some LATAM Airlines flights will be cancelled through 24 November as the carrier reboots certain routes.
It expects regular operations to be fully resumed on 25 November.
LATAM already cancelled a total of 245 flights from 11-20 November, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium. That amounts to roughly 1.5% of the Chliean carrier’s total flights during the period.
Hundreds of pilots represented by the Syndicate of Pilots of LATAM (SPL) stopped flying for the carrier starting on 12 November, forcing the carrier to begin winding down some of its operations the day before.
Cancellations peaked on 16 November with about 40 flights cancelled, or 2.6% of LATAM’s total that day.
But the airline said it had reached a “satisfactory agreement” with the SPL union on 19 September, following “several intense days of negotiations”.
LATAM appeared to be near full network on strength the following day, cancelling only nine flights out of nearly 1,600 departures.
The Santiago-headquartered airline company previously said the itineraries of more than 30,000 passengers were affected by the labour dispute, though it maintains were customers contacted, and either reaccommodated or reimbursed.
“Despite all the efforts made, we deeply regret the impact this strike may have caused to some of our passenger,” says Paulo Miranda LATAM’s chief customers and experience officer. ”At the same time, we appreciate the commitment of all the teams who worked throughout these days to protect our passengers.”
Miranda says that finding alternative flights for passengers helped to “maintain stability in flights not affected by the strike”.
It is still too early to determine the full financial impact of the strike, LATAM says, which will likely disclose related figures during its fourth-quarter earnings call early next year.
The pilots’ strike came after two months of deadlocked negotiations with airline management, with pilots demanding a return to pre-Covid-19 compensation levels and working conditions, which were reduced amid the pandemic-related global drop-off in demand for air travel.
LATAM, along with other Latin American carriers that did not receive government bailouts, struggled mightily during that period, forcing it to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Since emerging from that process three years ago, LATAM has increasingly become a powerhouse financial performer in Latin American, boosted by a critical joint venture with Delta Air Lines as well as strong international and business segments.
In the third quarter, LATAM Airlines Group’s revenue surged year-on-year to $3.4 billion, and the company expects full-year revenue to fall between $14-$14.2 billion.
The SPL union, which reportedly represents about half of LATAM’s captains, argued during negotiations that the airline group had not shared the prosperity with its pilots.
”After multiple rounds of discussions, a mutual understanding was reached that sets fair and responsible conditions, aligned with the goal of ensuring the company’s long-term sustainability while maintaining competitive working conditions for LATAM’s pilots,” the airline says.
