SOME 50 Malindo Airways cabin crew who were retrenched in April have been reinstated after negotiations between the airline and the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam).

The decision comes after a conciliation meeting between the airline and the retrenched staff at the Industrial Relations Department (IRD) in Shah Alam.

Nufam president Ismail Nasaruddin who led the union’s negotiation team said that the union had proposed the airline consider revoking the retrenchment of cabin crew employees terminated in early April.

During the first conciliation meeting, the airline was also urged to settle all outstanding salaries and flying allowances owed to the crew since early February. 

A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the employees and airline, led and witnessed by IRD officials.

“Nufam is indeed very happy that the airline has agreed to the union’s proposal and for that, our members are very grateful to the company. Some of the cabin crew who could not attend today’s signing of MoU were informed of the good news by their colleagues who attended the meeting yesterday,” Ismail said.

He added that while the union understands the significant impact of Covid-19 on the aviation industry, companies should not resort to the easiest way out by terminating their employees.

“We always believed there are other ways which airlines can trim down costs by putting less harm on their employees if they do it correctly with the help of the IRD and the union, and today both the airlines and workers have reached a win-win settlement,” he said.

“With this mutual agreement and settlement, it has made the situation less painful for all parties involved,” he added.

Malindo also relaxed some of its conditions by allowing its cabin crew to work part-time to sustain their livelihood due to loss of flying allowances during the pandemic. 

The loss of basic salaries and flying allowances, he said, have affected many airline cabin crew greatly since the movement-control order began in March. 

“Airlines businesses will take much longer to pick up during this pandemic and the union urges the government and the financial institutions to look into these issues seriously by helping the airline business and its employees.

“It is also about everyone playing a bigger role now to keep the industry alive without taking any advantage of the Covid-19 situation.

“The cabin crew have already suffered severe losses in their take-home income and worse, to lose their jobs. It is a double blow for them,” said Ismail. – July 16, 2020.