National
carrier Air India sacked 26 more pilots who went on mass sick leave leading to
several flight cancellations on Wednesday, as the Delhi High Court stepped in
to normalise operations by restraining pilots from going on strike.
"We
have sacked 26 more pilots. We are ready for talks, negotiations but we will
also not tolerate this kind of illegal action which will permanently hurt the
airline's image," a senior Air India official said.
The
flag carrier had sacked 26 pilots on Tuesday and derecognised their union -
Indian Pilots Guild (IPG).
The
Delhi High Court attempted to restore operations and issued restraining orders
on pilots from going on strike. The flag carrier had moved the court against
the agitating pilots.
Trouble
started when pilots belonging to IPG, of pre-merger Air India pilots, had gone
on mass 'sick' leave protesting the move by the airline to provide Boeing-787
Dreamliner training to pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines. The stir
caused four international flight cancellations each on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On
Wednesday, the airline had to cancel three international flights from Delhi and
one from Mumbai.
"Till
now in the day, four flights have been cancelled, including New
Delhi-Singapore, New Delhi-New York, New Delhi-Frankfurt and
Mumbai-Newark," the official said.
"We
have called in reserve pilots and other flights are operating per schedule.
Passengers are being updated about their flight status."
Sources
in the pilots union claimed that the disgruntled aviators had reached out to
the chief labour commissioner's (CLC) office. The IPG is likely to discuss the
issue and the sacking of its senior pilots at a meeting later Wednesday.
On
Tuesday, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh slammed the agitation calling it
illegal. "There are certain ways of even going on strike. The pilots may
have grievances but they should have spoken to the management, to me and other
well wishers."
"How
can they (pilots) go on strike when Air India is on the path of recovery and
when it is not out of the woods," he asked.
Ajit
Singh further said that while in an earlier order the Delhi High Court had
upheld the contention that the erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots cannot be
trained on the Dreamliner, the Supreme Court had vacated the stay.
"How
can the protesting pilots expect the government to go against the Supreme
Court?"
Currently
training for the first batch of pilot and crew members for the 787 is going on
in Singapore. An aircraft like 787 requires around 10 pilots for operating a
full day's schedule or a connecting long haul flight.
Air
India had booked 27 Boeing 787s in 2006 in a mega deal for 68 aircraft from
Boeing. The first of the 27 Boeing 787 aircraft which were ordered in 2006 for
IPG cadre pilots before the merger in 2007 is expected to join the fleet at the
end of the month.
Air
India is only the third global airline after All Nippon Airways and Japan
Airlines to receive the fuel-efficient and eco-friendly aircraft.
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