TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Evergreen Group has agreed to pay airport ground staff at Evergreen Airline Services Corporation (EGAS) bonuses of NT$40,000 ($1,307) per person before the Lunar New Year and extra rewards for work during the holiday, reports said Saturday (Jan. 7).

During the Jan. 1-2 holiday, EGAS staff took days off, creating problems for travelers flying in and out of the country on EVA Air. There were also unrelated threats by other unions to strike during the Jan. 20-30 Lunar New Year holidays.

The dissatisfaction at EGAS originated with staff’s year-end bonus of one month of salary, in comparison with the three months of salary for employees of EVA Air and 45 months at the shipping company Evergreen Marine, all of them part of the Evergreen Group.

In a statement Saturday evening, EGAS expressed its respect for the efforts of its staff over the past year, announcing the special bonuses, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported.

The company also explained the rationale behind its recent measures. Over the first three quarters of 2022, EGAS lost NT$99.38 million, only turning to profit in the fourth quarter, leading to the initial decision to pay only month of salary as year-end bonus.

The company said it had done a considerable amount of work with cargo flights, but more money was to be made from passenger flights, a business which was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic for most of the past few years.

As travel restrictions fell away and the international aviation sector recovered, the prospects for 2023 looked good, allowing the company to set the bonuses announced Saturday, EGAS said.

Taiwan’s other main airline, China Airlines (CAL), announced Friday (Jan. 6) it was paying three months of salary as year-end bonuses and hiking wages by an average of 3%, the Liberty Times reported.