Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL) has said that it is going to raise wages by 3 percent on average for its employees and issue year-end bonuses equivalent to three months of salary.
The carrier said that the salary hike and the year-end bonus payout come after negotiations with the company's union, and the two proposals still have to be approved by its board of directors.
The proposals came after the carrier reported NT$3.62 billion (US$118 million) in net profit for the first three quarters of last year, an increase of 132.64 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share of NT$0.6, up NT$0.32 from the previous year, at a time when Taiwan has eased border controls amid COVID-19, boosting the tourism industry.
In the nine-month period, CAL posted NT$111.78 billion in consolidated sales, up 21.93 percent from a year earlier, the carrier's data showed.
According to CAL, eased border controls in Taiwan pushed up revenue generated from passenger flights by 251.3 percent in the first nine months of last year over the same period of the previous year, with major revenue sources being destinations in North America, Southeast Asia and Europe.
CAL has forecast the global passenger flight market will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, while the Asia Pacific region is expected to see a return to the pre-pandemic level in 2025 with slower border easing.
Forecasting the high demand passenger transport market , China Airlines will increase its flights by another 30% early next year to gradually resume and open new destinations.
The carrier said the year-end bonus payment was intended as an incentive to its employees to work hard at a time when revenue is rising significantly as COVID-19 border controls are lifted.
