UPDATED at 19.10
Jat Tehnika has extended its strike action and Jat’s flights have been cancelled until further notice. Jat’s only flight which will depart today is to Moscow. The flight has been made possible as it will be operated by Aviogenex’s Boeing B737-200 which is not serviced by Jat Tehnika. Talks are currently being held between Jat Airways, Jat Tehnika and the Serbian ministry for infrastructure.
Speaking on national television Jat Airways’ CEO said that the professionalism on behalf of Jat Tehnika’s technicians has been appalling this year. He said that the 1.100 employed in Tehnika are nowhere to be seen whenever Jat’s aircraft are are in the hangers. He also goes on to say that 2 aircraft could not depart for over a month when they received a new cabin interior because Jat Tehnika did not want to paint the airline’s livery on the aircraft. Talks between Jat Airways and Jat Tehnika resume at 19.00 (7pm). Radovanović said that Jat would be more than happy to form its own technical division although this would see the end of Jat Tehnika which only has 2 other customers, according to Radovanović.
Jat’s technical division, Jat Tehnika, has gone on strike. Jat Tehnika said the strike will last until 15.00 (3pm). As a result all of Jat’s flights until 15.00 have been cancelled. Jat’s technicians will go on strike because Jat Airawys owes its technical division millions of Euros. Jat blames Jat Tehnika for poor maintenance which caused a string of safety incidents this summer. Jat’s CEO, Srđan Radovanović says that he is upset with Jat Tehnika’s decision to go ahead with the strike and calls on passengers for understanding.
Yesterday evening, flights to Monastir, Skopje, Abu Dhabi and Larnaca were cancelled because they did not receive safety clearances from Jat Tehnika. Jat Airways was paralysed when 3 years ago trade unions from Jat Tehnika went on a month long strike. Many flights were cancelled with Jat forced to hire Tunisian technicians to somewhat normalise its schedule. The airline lost numerous amounts of passengers and suffered a huge financial hit. Jat’s management hopes that the government will resolve the problem. The Serbian government owns both Jat Airways and Jat Tehnika. Jat Tehnika was separated from Jat when the strike occurred a few years ago. Radovanović said that the separation was a bad move. Flights should be normalised today after 15.00 although the strike could be extended.
Updates will continue throughout the evening.
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