A widespread pilot “sickout” that caused LIAT to cancel dozens of flights last week officially ended Friday, the company announced.

“As of 8 a.m. East Caribbean Time, no flight cancellations were planned,” LIAT officials said in a Friday press release. Negotiations with the pilots’ union are currently ongoing, according to the company.

Plots began the industrial action after Michael Blackburn, the chairman of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association, was fired from the company. LIAT officials said that Mr. Blackburn had “irreparably damaged the employee-employer relationships” with public comments that he made about the regional airline’s safety record, according to the Antigua Observer.

The resulting sickout affected hundreds of passengers across the region and cost LIAT more than $370,000 per day, according to a statement from Baldwin Spencer, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda.

 

See the Dec. 15, 2011 edition for full coverage.

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