Strike ends!

Jat Tehnika hanger on October 1, 2009

Jat Tehnika has ended its 3 day strike which grounded the entire fleet of Jat Airways and caused a lot of anger amongst passengers. The strike ended after the air technicians’ union representative said that the strike must end today otherwise Jat Tehnika will incur significant financial losses. The union of air mechanics also said that the government of Serbia has promised that part of the 110 million Dinars (or 1.1 million Euros) owed by Jat will be payed off by Monday, October 5. Jat Airways is estimated to have lost 1.5 million Euros during the 3 day strike and will sue Jat Tehnika for the financial losses the airline has suffered.

All of Jat Airways’ flights will resume today. Jat Tehnika was separated from Jat Airways in 2005 after technicians led a month long strike. Jat Tehnika is the only aircraft engineering company in Serbia. Jat Airways said it was a mistake to separate the two companies and will appeal to the government for the formation of a new technical division for Jat, much to the anger of Jat Tehnika which would loose its biggest customers which represnets 95% of its business.

Meanwhile, Jat Airways has launched a scathing attack against the low cost Wizz Air which offered ‘assistance’ to Jat Airways’ passengers over the last 3 days. Jat says that Wizz Air is in a run for cash and is not helping Jat’s passengers in any way since travelers would have to pay extra to fly Wizz Ar from airports outside of Serbia.

This is the fourth day in a row that a news item on this blog has been related to Jat, understandably because of the situation which has taken place in the past 72 hours. Tomorrow, visit the blog for Croatia Airlines’ 2009/10 timetable changes and modifications.