The striking pilots were threatened with action from the Delhi high court that has initiated contempt of court proceeding against them for defying its order to resume work.
Air India (AI) pilots brazened it out on day three of a flash strike that has disrupted hundreds of Air India (AI) flights in the domestic sector, inconveniencing thousands of passengers.
On Friday, 810 AI pilots affiliated to the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) said they were ready to go to jail when the airline threatened to impose the Essential Services Maintenance (ESMA) Act on them as they failed to report to work despite being given an ultimatum to do so. Late on Friday night, AI management was deliberating on what action to take against the pilots.
The striking pilots were also threatened with action from the Delhi high court (HC) that has initiated contempt of court proceeding against them for defying its order to resume work. The court said it is “clearly evident that the conduct of pilots is brazen and wilful and smacks of sheer arrogance” and said that their decision to continue with the strike despite court orders “amounts to disrespect”.
Earlier, AI sent SMSes to striking pilots asking them to report for duty by 5pm failing which “AI is at liberty to take any action as deemed fit including termination of services. This is without prejudice to any further action management may take under any other law of the land”. The airline also sent doctors to the homes of 69 executive pilots who reported sick.
In a bid to make the ongoing Air India pilot strike ineffective, the government has turned to private airlines for help.
It has requested Kingfisher Airlines for 20 sets of pilots (commanders and co-pilots) to ensure at least partial operation of Air India’s domestic service. Official sources said that the request has already been made and after some initial training, these 20 sets of pilots would be available from early next week.
The striking pilots have said they are ready for a dialogue with the government. “We are willing to get back to work provided the Government assures us that they will look into corruption issues we have raised and order a CBI enquiry.”
The ICPA has demanded a CBI probe into the “massive corruption” in the airline under the leadership of CMD Arvind Jadhav. “We are not fighting for money but against corruption. We are ready to go to jail and will even seek support from Anna Hazare for this,” said captain Rishabh Kapoor.
Justice Geeta Mittal of Delhi HC, who initiated suo moto contempt proceedings against the striking pilots, referred the matter to the chief justice of the HC for further action for Monday.
The Delhi high court also refused to stay an AI management order derecognising the ICPA.
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