During the strike Avianca were leasing several aircraft from sources like Wamos and Envelop. When the strike ended those arrangements were continued and continue despite Avianca having several aircraft (including two 787s) grounded for lack of pilots. During the strike there were also significant reductions in schedule some of which even now continue. So management clearly have decided to manage around pilot ‘shortages’ even if as now self inflicted.
Despite the strike Avianca financials for both 4q17 and full year 2017 weren’t unimpressive. Cutting schedules back and leasing in aircraft clearly worked from a management point of view. It’s an interesting thought (although only speculation) as to whether they might have been helped out on the leasing side by Rolls providing compensation for the 787 engine groundings?
Presumably now Avianca have a ruling that the pilot strike was illegal as Avianca’s flights are a necessary resource for Colombia they now think that they are protected against any future actions. Avianca remains the dominant airline in the country and even despite the strike there was little evidence of any of the other local carriers pushing hard to increase market share.
There was a local newspaper article about Avianca training up replacements. However in a country and region where both weather and terrain can be challenging experience in the cockpit is really needed.