Middle East Airlines resumed flights Sunday after pilots suspended a one-week strike following pledges from political officials that they would broker an agreement between MEA and the Lebanese Association of Pilots that doesn’t involve a cut in salaries or any measures against pilots.However, MEA chairman Mohammed Hout insisted in a statement issued Sunday that the LPA’s suspension of the strike was a voluntary move and that neither promises nor commitments had been made to pilots to end their strike.

Guarantees from officials – not an agreement with the flag carrier’s management led to the suspension of the strike, Fadi Khalil, head of the LPA told The Daily Star Sunday.We got guarantees that the measures taken against the pilots would not be implemented, he said.These guarantees were given by Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas, Public works and Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi but chiefly by General Michel Aoun,he added.Hout reiterated in his statement that the pilots had no legal right to instigate the strike in the first place.LPA had announced the suspension of the strike in a press conference held by Khalil late Saturday.

For the sake of securing the continuity of our company and this public utility and [for the sake] of not harming tourism the Lebanese Pilots Association suspends the strike starting Dec. 3 at midnight until further notice, Khalil said.Khalil warned that the LPA reserved the right to resume the strike if the company insisted on deducting salaries to compensate losses it said it had incurred during the strike.MEA confirmed Saturday that all flights were resumed in light of the LPA’s announcement.

After the termination of the strike announced by the Lebanese Pilots Association, MEA will resume normal operation starting Sunday Dec. 4 at noon as per normal schedule.The LPA had gone on strike after a cancer-stricken pilot Joseph Ayat, who had served 38 years at the company, was laid off.The MEA maintains that the sick pilot had received all his rights and had been treated fairly and that a medical committee found he had permanently lost his ability to operatean aircraft.LPA protested the claim and insisted Ayat should be entitled to 75 days of fully-paid sick leave and an additional 75 days at half-pay level, in accordance with Lebanese labor law.

But an initial agreement over the situation of Ayat failed to put an end to the strike as the company insisted on the five-day deductions.Despite the strike, many MEA flights had gone ahead as scheduled, with the company releasing daily statements saying which flights it was able to operate “40 percent of flights went on as usual.Khalil said Saturday that the aim of the strike had been to force MEA to retract its arbitrary decision.Middle East Airlines is not owned by management that could change at any point in time, but is a national company owned by the Lebanese people and its success is attributed to the word of its employees,he added.When asked why the association had suspended and not ended the strike, Khalil said,The situation requires more time to follow up on developments and in principle, the strike has ended.A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on December 05, 2011, on page 4.