AI strike enters sixth day both sides stick to guns

As the Air India (AI) strike entered the sixth day today, both the pilots and the company’s management remained adamant on their stand — and the airline was likely to move the Delhi High Court against the agitating pilots, claiming their defiance amounted to contempt of court, given that an earlier court ruling had called the protest illegal.

The airline had to cancel 20 international flights today.

“The pilots are not reporting to work and we are operating some of our flights according to the contingency plan,” an AI official said. “Our stand continues and we will not talk to the agitating pilots unless they call off the strike.”

Even as the pilots have relented by making an offer for unconditional talks, the airline management wants them to come back to work before the talks could begin.

The airline — which is losing Rs 12 crore a day in revenues and has had to spend an extra Rs 5 crore daily to provide accommodation and other facilities to stranded passengers — has termed the pilots’ strike “illegal”.

Talks can happen, they said, but only after the stir was called off. The government carrier has also prepared a contingency plan that would include wet leasing four aircraft (which come with pilots and crew) and cut the number of flights to Europe and the US from 32 to 14 a day.

The management, acting tough on striking pilots, had sacked 71 pilots in the six days of the strike, and also sought cancellation of the flying licenses of 11 office-bearers of the Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG), which is spearheading the agitation. In the last two days, though, the airline management has not terminated any pilot.

Reportedly, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had yesterday issued show-cause notices to 11 pilots of the IPG after the airline management sought cancellation of their flying licences.

It was last Tuesday that around 300 pilots owing allegiance to a 550-member IPG started its agitation after the airline allowed the erstwhile Indian Airlines’ pilots to fly the new Dreamliner planes. The IPG, which represents pilots of Air India before it was merged with Indian Airlines (IA), objected to this because, it says, it wants its members’ career progression and time-bound promotions to be in sync with those of pilots from the erstwhile IA. While the pilots from the erstwhile IA got a commander’s grade in six years, it took 10 years for those of the erstwhile AI for the achievement to happen.