Deadline looms
over striking pilots, 3 break ranks to rejoin duty
New Delhi, May
16:
The ongoing
strike by a section of Air India pilots appeared to be heading towards a
resolution.
Cracks have
already begun to surface, with three striking pilots rejoining work on
Wednesday.
As the strike
looked set to enter its 11 {+t} {+h} day, the decision to call off the strike
hinges on whether – or how many – of the 71 pilots who were sacked are taken
back.
Over 250 pilots
had joined the agitation by reporting ‘sick'. This affected normal flight
operations of the airline and caused a daily revenue loss of Rs 12-15 crore.
Of the 71
pilots who were terminated from service, 10 are office bearers of the Indian
Pilots Guild (IPG), which spearheaded the flash strike. The other sacked pilots
are members of the Guild. The Guild is the apex body of the pre-merger overseas
carrier Air India's pilots.
Face-saving
formula
Sources
indicated that both the Government and agitating pilots are looking for a face
saving formula to exit from the current imbroglio. “We are ready to provide the
Government with a face saving formula provided the interests of our members are
looked after,” a striking pilot said.
Political
parties are also said to be using their influence with the pilots to see sense
and not worsen the situation.
The agitating
pilots also spoke to Member of Parliament, Mr Sitaram Yechury, who heads the
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture. The IPG is
headed by a Member of the Legislative Assembly belonging to the Nationalist
Congress Party.
On its part,
the Government has shown that it is willing to talk with the pilots as long as
they come back to work. The decision not to file contempt of court proceedings
against the pilots and delaying the implementation of the contingency are all
being interpreted as going slow on pilots.
Strong message
The Government
is also keen to send out a strong message to all sections of Air India
employees that this kind of action will not be tolerated in future. There were
also indications that the Air India issue could be taken to the Cabinet soon.
Meanwhile, the
Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on a plea by sections of
pilots against a single judge order restraining them from continuing the “illegal
strike” by reporting sick.
A two-judge
bench is expected to pronounce the order on Thursday.
Besides, May 18
could be a decisive day for some of the agitating pilots. If the pilots who
went on sudden sick leave do not report back to work on May 18, they would have
remained on sick leave for 14 days.
The rules
stipulate that if a pilot is on sick leave for 14 days, he or she would have to
go through a full medical board before being allowed to fly. This is could take
anything from a few days to a few months to complete.
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