MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- Philippine Airlines resumed international flights Thursday night after a month-long shutdown caused by a dispute between labor and management.

The mood was celebratory at Ninoy Quino International Airport, where singing PAL employees greeted 216 passengers as they checked in for a flight to Los Angeles.

Pilot Julio Hernandez said the crew was pleased to be flying again. "I'm very happy. It's hard to put something good down, as they say," he said.

PAL will gradually resume its international flights. At first, the airline will run three flights weekly between Manila and Los Angeles, with stopovers in San Francisco. The two California cities will be served with separate flights from Manila beginning November 11.

The cash-strapped carrier shut down operations on September 23 after an employees' union rejected a management recovery plan that included a 10-year suspension of collective bargaining in exchange for 20 percent ownership of the airline.

After intervention by Philippine President Joseph Estrada, workers agreed to accept the plan about two weeks after the shutdown. Domestic flights resumed on October 7.

Labor and management said they are now working together to keep PAL in the air.

"We knew that we would be coming back. And everybody is very hopeful that this is for good and that we will have the continued support and patronage of the Filipino people," said Avelino Zapanta, PAL vice president.