The ministry of civil aviation on Wednesday held talks with agitating pilots of flag carrier Air India (AI) to try and find a way to end the impasse. According to people aware of the matter, a team headed by joint secretary Prashant Shukul will hold parleys with the pilots. The two-member team is believed to have been formed after the pilots apparently said they did not want to talk to AI chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav.
?The government is willing to settle the issue… I hope wisdom will prevail on the pilots,? aviation minister Vayalar Ravi had said on Tuesday.
AI?s domestic services have been crippled for eight days due to a large section of its pilots striking work since April 27. The carrier had to cancel almost 90% of its flights on Wednesday, mostly on domestic sectors. AI is suffering a loss of over Rs 10 crore per day on account of the stir. So far, seven pilots have been fired and six suspended. The pilots have demanded that all sackings, suspensions and transfers be revoked.
AI has in a statement said that it has scheduled to operate 106 flights as against 320 on the domestic and international sectors per day as part of the contingency schedule, for the next few days. These include operation of flights by its subsidiary Air India Express, additional flights operated with wide-bodied B777 and B747. The curtailed operations schedule till 6 May has been finalised and put on the airline?s website.
The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) ? a union form by erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots before it merged with AI in 2007 ? called the strike because their demand for immediately matching their salaries with their counterparts in AI remained unmet. The AI management has said that it has already hired an expert committee to look into the pay parity issue between erstwhile Indian Airlines and AI which will offer its findings soon.
Terming the strike as? illegal? the AI management had filed a case in the Delhi High Court last week. The court on Tuesday issued contempt notices to nine sacked office-bearers of the ICPA for disobeying its last week?s order to call-off the ongoing strike. However, ICPA has said that it will report to work only if the AI management reinstates the sacked pilots. AI has not yet confirmed whether it will take back the sacked pilots.