Updates total number of canceled flights, affected passengers in final paragraph.
Pilots working for Colombia's Avianca airlines ended a 52-day strike that disrupted local and regional aviation and the local economy.
The group of pilots agreed to return to the cockpit on 13 November.
As many as 600 pilots affiliated with the Acdac union launched the strike on 20 September, initially impacting half of the company's flight capacity.
The strike ended following the mediation of Colombia's ombudsman, even though Avianca management did not sit at the negotiating table.
"Despite the refusal of Avianca to participate in these meetings, and committed to the country and to the protection of the human rights of citizens, we have decided to suspend the cessation of activities, resuming air operations 72 hours after signing this document," Acdac said.
The pilots lost several legal battles. On 6 October, a Bogotá court declared the strike illegal, but pilots subsequently appealed. The country's supreme court had been expected to rule on the matter over the next few days.
As the strike dragged on, Avianca adopted several measures to limit the impact. The airline implemented a practice called "wet lease" which allowed the carrier to lease foreign aircraft with complete crew, maintenance and insurance. The airline also used bigger planes to transport more people in each flight. Around 133 striking pilots also broke ranks and returned to work before the deal was reached.
The prolonged strike had dire effects on the Colombian economy. The travel agency association Anato said they failed to sell $50mn in tickets. As many as 90pc of travel agencies said they were impacted by the strike. Airplane ticket prices increased by 5.6pc in October and November compared with the same period last year, Anato added.
The Colombian hotel association (Cotelco) said 30pc of hotel reservations were cancelled during the strike.
According to the civil aviation regulator, Colombia transported 10pc fewer passengers in September on the year.
The strike forced Avianca to cancel a total of 13,924 flights, affecting 420,194 passengers and
driving local demand to competitors such as Chile's LATAM.
