Pilots call off strike

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FE Report
The pilots of Bangladesh Biman withdrew their work abstention Friday night following the assurance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resolve the impasse.
"We've decided to call off our strike after the PM gave us the assurance," BAPA General Secretary Basit Mahtab told the FE.
The national flag carrier remained crippled since early morning of Wednesday when BAPA, a group of 115 pilots, went on a strike in protest against suspension of four of its members.
Biman Tuesday suspended four of its pilots temporarily. The BAPA went on strike immediately after the suspension.
Biman board of directors earlier issued an ultimatum of 48 hours to the striking pilots to join the work. The ultimatum was to end at 11 am today.
Despite the strike, Biman's four flights including a domestic one took off Friday under special arrangement.
Sources claimed that Biman had to cancel eight of its 15 flights Thursday due to the strike.
Woes of passengers mounted significantly following the strike and the migrant workers were the worst sufferers for the wildcat strike.
However Hajj and VIP flights remained outside the purview of the work abstention.
Meanwhile, a significant number of passengers rushed to private airlines companies to reach destinations leading to a ticket crisis on different routes.
United Airlines officials told the FE Friday that they had sold tickets until November 2 for its different domestic services.