The union of pilots and flight engineers at All Nippon Airways Co. will temporarily suspend its ongoing strike in view of the upcoming Golden Week holidays, a spokesman for the carrier announced April 20.

The ANA's Crew Association made a proposal to management in the afternoon to temporarily halt the strike from midnight April 20 through the holiday period, said Isao Yagi, ANA's managing director. However, the union did not specify a final date for the holiday period, which is generally from late April through early May, according to Yagi. The strike has caused the cancellation of nearly 100 ANA international flights over the past 15 days.

The ANA union is calling on management to examine its demands regarding a new wage system implemented in April, and to respond after a unspecified cooling-off period. It will decide whether to resume the strike after management makes its response, Yagi said.

Kichisaburo Nomura, ANA's president, issued a written statement April 20 that said it is regrettable the union is still implying that the strike could resume. "We are not optimistic (that the suspension will lead to the full normalization of labor relations). We maintain our position and continue to ask for the understanding of the circumstances (of management's difficulties)," Yagi said.

Although ANA managed to divert its passengers to other carriers during the strike, it is difficult to do so in the holiday period, when the number of vacationers is concentrated and flight services are already booked up, the spokesman said. Despite suspension of the strike, some of the ANA's international flights will still be canceled until Thursday because the carrier has already diverted its passengers to other carriers for the two days. The company hopes to resume full operations on Friday.