Pilot Strikes Cause Mayhem In The Air And On The Ground

In the past few days China's top airline has been forced to suspend a portion of their operations in the eastern side of the country under pressure from the Aviation Authority in China. The call comes as a result of a number of strange "no arrivals" flights left 1,000 people wondering whether they were going to be flying or sitting in the airport for another few hours. These no arrival flights are when a flight turns around or basically doesn't go to where it should do, this is dangerous as you probably know that air traffic control is a strictly scheduled process and if an airplane has to turn around or be re-directed then it can cause massive delays and confusion to other flights due to take off or land. This particular instance has been the result of pilots taking strike action against their employers over pay and working conditions. The number of pilots taking part certainly showed up on the Civil Aviation Authority in China's radar when they posted on their website on Thursday, "This caused a serious negative impact". China Eastern is going to receive a 1.5 million Yuan fine as a result of the chaos. A number of the flights reported technical problems and adverse weather as reason for turning back, while a large group of flights cited no problems and followed the other flights back blindly. It is believed up to 9 flights have no conclusive reason for turning back after equipment on board failed to report back to Air Traffic Control, a move that officials believe was down to dissentious pilots sabotaging equipment. Flights officials were quick to state that the pilots were irresponsible and showed no regard for passengers' rights, it is rumoured that up to 11 pilots have been suspended although China Eastern refused to confirm this point. Pilots are not only striking in China, early this year pilots for British Airways were involved in talks with the company to prevent strike action over a new subsidiary airline OpenSkies which would hire pilots under inferior terms. Talks broke down in early March and now the company are looking to file court injunctions if the pilots go forth with strike action. In these days of cheap flights we find it all too easy to forget the work that goes on behind the scenes, in order to keep providing flights at attractive prices the airlines are searching for ways to save money, especially with the price of oil remaining at the mammoth