EgyptAir pilots suspend strike

EgyptAir pilots have suspended their strike after talks with Civil Aviation Minister Wael El-Maadawy.    One hundred and eighty pilots struck for over three hours on Thursday morning, causing the delay of 20 flights. They protested at the company's HQ at Cairo International Airport. EgyptAir assigned other pilots to replace the strikers. "Thursday's protest was designed to press demands for changes in the company's top management and the payment of bonuses proposed by the pilots," EgyptAir official Ahmed Shahin told AP. The pilots have given the Minister of Civil Aviation until next Wednesday for their demands to be met, or they will escalate the strike. Pilots Coalition president Ahmed Younis told DPA that pilots would only carry out their assigned schedules and would not take extra flights, as they are not paid bonuses for them. "This will increase the pressure on the company to listen to our demands," he added. According to Younis, pilots will also stop travelling to the airport in their own cars to pressure the company into providing them with alternative means of transport. The boss of EgyptAir was recently replaced, a decision opposed by many pilots. Earlier this month, the Minister of Civil Aviation dismissed 15 EgyptAir workers after they struck for better financial conditions.