We have prepared ourselves for the strike and have organised stand-in planes. We estimate that around twenty per cent of our passengers will be affected, however, they will all be catered to and taken to their destinations, either in our planes, partner company carriers or rented planes, a CA executive, Zlatko Sirac, told a press conference.

The carrier said that some domestic and international flights on Tuesday would be rescheduled.

At a meeting today with Labour Minister Mirando Mrsic, consultations were held with pilot union representatives over a possible compromise, however, management is not ready to give in to union ultimatums because that would threaten the restructuring of the company and its survival, Sirac underscored.

We are prepared to talk and perhaps for some concessions but the rights that were guaranteed in the previous collective agreement are not sustainable, he explained.

The new management has turned the company's direction around in the past nine months and has managed to improve transport efficiency and reduce costs, and this year the company should end the year on a positive zero and any divergence from the set plan would mean further losses and would threaten the company's financial plan, Sirac continued.

He said that management may be prepared not to fire flight attendants who went on sick leave simultaneously on May 1-2 which led to suspicion that this was an unlawful protest against the new collective agreement.

Management had requested the opinion of the Croatian Health Insurance Institute (HZZO) and the Workers' Council and we have requested an additional explanation from the Health Ministry because if 42 cabin staff fell ill simultaneously, we would like to know the cause of the illness so that we can take appropriate steps to prevent any similar illness occurring again next year and so that we can decide whether dismissal notices will be issued or not, he said.

The HZZO and Workers' Council have issued their opinions stating that the sick leave was justified and in keeping with the law, so it can be assumed that there will not be any dismissals.

Sirac denied that flight attendants' salaries were cut by 40 per cent, saying their net salaries was reduced by 22 per cent on average. He said that in some cases the reduction in pays was zero whereas in some it was 30-35 per cent.

He further denied claims by pilots that their salaries were the lowest in the region and that they had not gone up since 2007, explaining that a large portion of pilots' salaries had gone up with wage adjustments on 1 January 2011 and that their gross salaries were one of the highest in Europe.