As holidays near, strike cancels more Chilean flights

With year-end holidays fast approaching, Chileans faced a third day of canceled and delayed domestic flights Saturday as airport workers vowed to strike "indefinitely" over pension demands.

Hardest hit was remote Easter Island, located in the Pacific some 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) west of the mainland, where tourists were stranded at a paralyzed airport.

Jose Perez, head of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (GDCA) -- the group that represents some 3,000 Chilean airport workers -- said late Friday that the strike would continue until "the government responds in a concrete way."

The Directorate represents luggage handlers, airport security and meteorologists, but not air traffic controllers, who remain on the job.

The strikers want to be allowed to join a pension plan used by the Chilean military.

The move forced the Latam Airlines Group -- the largest in Chile and in Latin America -- to cancel several domestic flights. Sky, another airline, also slashed its domestic flights.

International flights would continue, though some might face delays, Latam said in a statement.

Operations will continue at seven Chilean airports "which account for 64 percent of our operations inside of Chile," Latam said.

Other airlines have also had to adjust operations.

Defense Minister Jose Antonio Gomez blasted the move, saying that it is "inconceivable" that airport workers could hold their countrymen "hostage" to receive benefits that, he said, go "far beyond what ordinary Chileans receive."

Long lines of angry passengers formed at varios airports, including the Santiago International Airport.

"Things have a limit and the workers cannot ... close the Easter Island airport, which is needed for humanitarian reasons," Gomez said at a press conference.

Gomez said the government will provide an air bridge to remote southern Chile, and is planning for humanitarian flights to Easter Island.

The situation grew tense on Thursday when the government said it would dispatch Air Force staff to the airports, drawing fierce criticism from the strikers, who said the military lacked needed expertise.