Pilots, cabin crew and aircraft mechanics employed at the state-owned national flag carrier Croatia Airlines will go on strike next week, Vecernji List daily learned from the pilots' union (HSPP) on Thursday.

Croatia Airlines workers’ union (ORCA) is expected to send the official announcement on the beginning of the strike to the airline management tomorrow, Vecernji List daily reported.

The strike had previously been announced for July 9, but was postponed after the union’s representatives met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic only two days before it was scheduled to start. Plenkovic told them at the meeting that their problems would be addressed.

The company’s employees are demanding an increase in salaries, longer-term collective agreements, and the reduction in overtime hours assigned to employees.

“The union’s representatives presented Croatia Airlines’ problems to the Prime Minister, who expressed his understanding and said he was prepared to ensure that all the necessary conditions for the conclusion of the collective agreement were met,” the union had said in July, and added that the strike would be postponed to allow a reasonable amount of time for the conditions to be met.

ORCA said on Thursday that Plenkovic had betrayed their trust, and did nothing to resolve the situation in Croatia Airlines before the start of summer recess. The last government session before the recess was held today, and the decision on appointing the airline’s new management was not made.

Croatia Airlines has been without a CEO since September 2016, when the contract of the last CEO Kresimir Kucko had expired. Jasmin Bajic is the current caretaker CEO.

The strike could cause chaos in air traffic in the middle of the tourist season. Transport Minister Oleg Butkovic said in July, just before the earlier strike was announced, that Croatia Airlines could not survive a strike.

At the height of the tourist season, Croatia Airlines has nearly 100 flights carrying 10,000 passengers every day. The management said that a potential strike would mean daily losses between €500,000 and €800,000 because they would need to lease aircraft to service their scheduled routes.

The company has more than 900 employees and operates a fleet consisting of four Airbus A319s, two Airbus A320s and six Bombardier Q400 aircraft.

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