Negotiations between the government and flight attendants over bonuses ended up in something entirely different: permitting the stewardesses to wear headscarves on board, Amirah Ibrahim reports On 7 September the national carrier EgyptAir announced in a press release that it had suspended all international flights leaving Egypt's airports. It said the state-owned carrier was forced to do so after flight attendants vowed to stage a strike to press for an immediate bonus and salary hike. On Sunday the crisis ended but without the financial issue being settled. Instead, the government decided to permit female flight attendants to don the headscarf as part of the company's uniform, this for the first time. Flight attendants, among a number of independent leagues and syndicates, raised 22 demands nearly a month ago. The airliner which has been suffering losses since the 25 January 2011 Revolution turned down the financial demands, arguing they must be postponed but agreed to respond to the other demands on the list. Encouraged by the fact that the newly-appointed Aviation Minister Samir Imbabi is a former EgyptAir employee, representatives of the flight attendants together with the airliner's top officials decided to meet the minister on 5 September to present their demands. During the meeting, a deal was signed and posted on the official website of the Flight Attendants Syndicate. In the deal, resolving suspended financial dues was again delayed, however, the rest of the demands won approval. "The approvals included appointing new flight attendants to cover the drastic shortage of cabin crew," explained Ahmed Abdel-Fattah, head of the syndicate. "We also requested a separate sector within the administrational structure of the company to be created to supervise all flight attendants' affairs," Abdel-Fattah added. The demands also included a new bonus plan, better accommodation while abroad, a better health and social care plan and a modification of working hours. "We agreed to delay other financial demands related to getting financial dues that were suspended since 1996, considering the current financial crisis in which the airliner is suffering," he added. The syndicate stated it had agreed with other leagues to suspend the planned strike and to monitor the implementation of the deal by the administration. On 6 September, and while the crisis seemed to have ended, Imbabi left for Jeddah to meet Saudi officials, during which the coming pilgrimage season was scheduled to be discussed. A few hours later, flight attendants announced that the deal was not satisfactory and opened the subject of financial dues once again. Abdel-Fattah quit his post and news of a work stoppage was reported. According to airliner chairman Hossam Kamal, 95 international flights were cancelled on Friday. "To transfer passengers stranded at Egyptian airports, we hired four medium-ranged aircraft from two Egyptian private airliners, AirCairo and Masrya," explained Kamal. "However, we could not do the same with long distance flights like New York, the Far East, north Europe and South African destinations. Those flights are operated by wide body planes which are not owned by any Egyptian airliner except EgyptAir." As such, losses according to Kamal exceeded LE50 million, in addition to compensation to be paid to passengers all over the world. Asked about the possible effects of the incident on the reputation of the airliner, Kamal said that passengers are more aware of such crises "and they know it happens every now and then". Kamal said the bonus requested immediately would burden the airliner with LE22 million. "And the burden would be doubled if other employees followed the footsteps of flight attendants and asked for more bonuses," Kamal added. As thousands of passengers were left stranded at Egyptian airports, others were stuck abroad including the aviation minister himself who had to cancel the official visit to Saudi Arabia and return aboard a Saudi airliner flying to Cairo. At Cairo International TB3, where the national carrier operates, thousands of passengers spent an entire night and day with their luggage on the floor. Some angry passengers raided the airliner's sales offices and smashed equipment after the staff failed to find them alternatives in reaching their destinations. Flight attendants gathered near the TB1 terminal to stop any of their colleagues who did not join the strike from resuming work. Attempting to contain the crisis, President Mohamed Mursi sent an aide on 7 September to negotiate with the flight attendants. At this point, flight attendants suspended their work stoppage until Sunday and regular operations were gradually resumed. On Sunday, Mursi's aide and the aviation minister met flight attendant representatives. The agreement reached was nearly the same as that of 5 September. The only difference was that the government agreed to allow female flight attendants to wear the hijab onboard. Strangely enough, a uniform with a headscarf was not one of the 22 demands over which flight attendants negotiated with the airliner administration a month ago. The issue has been occasionally raised by female flight attendants who wear the hijab and who were suspended from flying after the company insisted that their veil was not part of the airliner's official uniform. A new statement by the Flight Attendants Syndicate was issued on Sunday, saying the syndicate agreed to suspend their planned strike and delay their financial demands taking into consideration the difficult financial situation which the company is facing. EgyptAir employs more than 1,850 flight attendants.
