Not in a mood to relent, the Air India management by Tuesday evening had sacked at least ten pilots and derecognised the Indian Pilots Guild.
With the government and the Air India (AI) management refusing to buckle under the arm-twisting tactics used by the striking Air India pilots, the crisis surrounding the already tattered airlines is likely to deepen. Not in a mood to relent, the Air India management by Tuesday evening had sacked at least ten pilots and derecognised the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG). Even after the 6pm deadline given to the striking pilot, long gone, there was no sign of the strike being called off.
Since there was no end to the dead-lock between the striking pilots and AI management, most of the international flights operated by AI were expected to be cancelled on Tuesday night as well. Late on Monday night, the pilots went on a flash strike, by reporting sick for work, after the talks between the pilots association and the AI management failed. This resulted in as many as five international AI flights being cancelled, including the Delhi - Toronto, Delhi - Chicago and Mumbai - Newark, while the other flights were not cancelled, they were rescheduled resulting the delay of hours for the flyers.
The government was quick to call the strike as illegal and terming it as blackmailing tactics used by the pilots. “This is no way to resolve issues,” civil aviation minister Ajit Singh told reporters. “There are issues and differences everywhere, but they can be resolved by dialogue. If their (pilots association) talks with the Air India management failed they should have approached me. Some solution would have been worked out,” Singh said.
He said when taxpayers money is being used to revive the fortunes of the flagging airlines, this strike was completely uncalled for. “Why should the taxpayers and the flyers be inconvenienced, when their money is being used to save AI,” Singh said.
As many as 160 pilots reported sick from Monday night and more were expected to join the stir as no talks were held between the striking union and the management on Tuesday. While the ministry issued an ultimatum for the striking pilots to return to work by 6pm on Tuesday, the AI management sent team of doctors to the residences of the striking pilots to get their health report.
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