Twenty-five 'Indian' flights operating from Bombay cancelled so far leaving a number of passengers in lurch, as the indefinite strike continued for the second day.
MUMBAI: Twenty-five 'Indian' flights operating from here were cancelled so far on Thursday, leaving a number of passengers in lurch, as the indefinite strike by the employees of the national carrier entered the second day.
A spokesperson of the airliner said that since morning they had operated five flights from the city.
Out of the 53 daily flight services from the western metropolis, 25 were cancelled, the official added.
The employees have refused to budge and are continuing with the strike despite the government declaring it as illegal and suspending 27 workers, including three from Mumbai, a union leader said.
"There is a meeting with the Chief Labour Commissioner in Delhi later in the day and until the time the result of it is announced we will continue our strike," Vivek Rao, treasurer of the city unit of Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) said.
Rao said three union members were among those who had received suspension notices from the management on Wednesday but said the agitation would continue.
"However, the delay in schedules is less than an hour presently while yesterday they were greater," the 'Indian' spokesperson said.
The airline has had to bring in officials from other departments to take the place of the employees on strike.
The strike was called by the ACEU on Tuesday night after talks with the civil aviation ministry over the payment of arrears to employees of Indian fell through.
A report from Pune said a contingency plan has been enforced by the local management of the state-owned carrier 'Indian,' whose operations were affected due to nation-wide strike by ground staff since Tuesday night.
"We have enforced a contingency plan to ensure that our operations are least affected due to the ongoing stir by the employees," a senior official of the Indian said.
A Pune-Goa flight has been cancelled, while the flight to Delhi is operating, the official said on Thursday.
There are 35 Indian ground staff posted at the Pune International Airport, which on an average operates two flights daily.
Despite the fact that all the 35 ground staff are on strike, two Indian flights operated on Wednesday and only one was cancelled.
In Nagpur, 'Indian' on Thursday cancelled its Mumbai-Nagpur-Mumbai evening flight, for the second consecutive day due to the strike, the airline official said.
Meanwhile, Indian today operated its Delhi-Raipur-Nagpur and back (IC 869) and Mumbai-Nagpur and back (IC 130) flight as usual with 87 and 93 passengers on board in respective flights in the morning, Indian Station Manager I J K Dhas, said.
Indian had to cancel its evening flight to Mumbai on Wednesday.
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