He blamed the losses on the pilots. “Their strike is illegal… I will reply to it by legal means,” he said.

The chairman said that the pilots are bargaining on a deal he inked with them in November, 2008 where the company improved their work conditions. “In light of the deal, we agreed with the pilots that they will not to ask for additional raises, because the number of pilots we employ is larger than the company’s actual needs,” he said.

The chairman said that the company’s salary scale is fair. He said that the average salary paid by the MEA to one captain reaches $12,000 while new pilots are paid a salary of $4,500 after one year of work, he said.

Hout said that the company has leased a Bulgarian airline to carry a number of the passengers affected by the strike, while others have been rerouted to other flights. “We apologize from passengers for the inconvenience caused by the strike,” he said.