Madagascar cancels flights over airline strike

Almost all flights in Madagascar, domestics and international, have been cancelled since Monday due to a strike by Air Madagascar employees against the company's board chair.

Leader of the strike, Rado Rabarilala, said the employees were mainly protesting over the incompetency of the chairman of the board of Air Madagascar, Henry Rabary Njaka, who he said "managed the company with politics."

"Henry Rabary Njaka, who is also the chief of staff of Madagascar's President Hery Rajaonarimampianina, still purchased two new aircrafts though our technicians already advised him that it will bring the company to bankruptcy because of the financial problem of the company," Rado Rabarilala said.

Rado Rabarilala also said the current leaders of the country used Air Madagascar's aircrafts as their personal wealth without respecting the rule of the company.

"We require that this incompetency be corrected by concerned personnel to avoid the bankruptcy of the company," he said.

Minister of Social law and Public Function, Maharante Jean De Dieu, has declared the strike to be "illegal" and asked the strikers to allow "those who want to work" to go on with their work.

General Director of Air Madagascar, Haja Raelison, said the flights were cancelled "unilaterally by a few strikers."

"We have called other pilots to resume the flights already in programs. And if there is any change of flights, we will inform our customers some hours before," Haja Raelison said.

So far only two domestic flights resumed on Tuesday.

Four Air Madagascar employees have been sacked and some others sanctioned.

Mediation talks between strike leaders and airline management were held on Tuesday afternoon but ended without any deal.

Haja Raelison said the strike makes a loss of 500,000 U.S. dollars every half-day for Air Madagascar, while the tourism business which generates 15 percent of Madagascar's income is threatened. Endi