Mumbai/Delhi,
May 8:
The Air India
(AI) management has derecognised the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and has
terminated the services of 10 pilots, including office bearers of IPG. The move
comes after pilots intensified their strike with more than 200 pilots calling
in sick on Tuesday.
Sources said
the offices of IPG in Mumbai and Delhi were sealed.
The
unprecedented industrial action has bankers worried about the implementation of
the Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) agreed on Air India.
Sources said
that there is a question mark over the release of further equity by the
Government as it is linked to certain milestones such as increase in passenger
load factor, increase in aircraft utilisation and making more routes
profitable. Bankers fear that the turnaround plan could also be in danger given
low morale of employees following this action.
Disruptions in
international operations of Air India have already seen the revenues come down
to Rs 9 crore from Rs 15 crore a day earlier. Altogether, revenues were down
25-30 per cent. Air India carries about 8,000 international passengers every
day and operates 50 international flights and 400 domestic flights daily.
Air India
operations were thrown into disarray with several flights in domestic and international
routes being cancelled on Tuesday. Official sources said that the Frankfurt,
Paris flights were combined while the Chicago and Toronto flights were likely
to operate on Tuesday. Flights to Singapore and Japan will be operated with
smaller aircraft. These can be flown by pilots of the erstwhile Indian
(Airlines) who are not taking part in the industrial action. Two flights in the
Middle-East route were affected. As far as Air India Express is concerned, 44
pilots reported sick.
Mumbai airport
officials said that five Air India flights from Mumbai were cancelled on
Tuesday. Sources told Business Line that at least four domestic flights,
which continue onwards as international flights, the Delhi-Hyderabad-Delhi,
Delhi-Amritsar-Delhi, Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi and Delhi-Ahmedabad-Delhi, were
cancelled on Tuesday because of non-availability of pilots. Flights on
Mumbai-Jeddah, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Mumbai-Delhi-JFK were also cancelled on
Tuesday. A similar uncertainty hangs over the flight operations for Wednesday.
Sections of Air
India pilots, who belong to the pre-merger Air India, are protesting the
management's decision to train their colleagues from the erstwhile Indian
(Airlines) to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The first of these will
be inducted into the fleet later this month.
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