The strike by a
section of pilots owing allegiance to the Indian Pilots' Guild on the issue of
training for the Boeing-787 Dreamliner affected the national carrier's five
international flights, including four of Air India Express, from
Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode on Tuesday.
Keralites
proceeding to the Gulf countries and other destinations on connection flights
were the worst affected. Although the stir by the pilots without prior notice
to the management commenced on Friday, the impact was felt in the State only on
Tuesday.
Air India
Express IX 548 Thiruvananthapuram-Muscat flight scheduled to depart at 9.20
a.m. from here was cancelled.
The IX 537
Thiruvananthapuram-Dubai-Abu Dhabi flight that was to depart at 5.15 p.m. could
not take off as scheduled as its pilot reported sick. Airline sources said
efforts were on to get a pilot from New Delhi to operate the flight later in
the night.
The stranded
passengers who were to proceed to Muscat were ferried in the flights of Oman
Air and Jet Airways and via Mumbai in the Air India flights. The airline had
also given the passengers the option of changing date of journey or taking
refund.
The flights
that were cancelled from Kozhikode were Air India Express IX 337
Kozhikode-Muscat-Sharjah (11 a.m.) and IX 389 Kozhikode-Kuwait that was to
depart at 3.40 p.m. Air India also cancelled the AI 923 Kozhikode-Riyadh flight
that was to depart at 3 p.m. The flight was to be operated using Jumbo
aircraft.
The strike by
the 500-strong Indian Pilots' Guild has affected the national carrier's
international operations during the summer holiday season. The Mumbai-Newark,
Delhi-Toronto and Delhi-Chicago flights were cancelled and this had put lot of
hardship to those who had booked tickets in these flights. The national carrier
had taken the decision to cancel the flights rather than operating the flights
later.
The Supreme
Court has backed the management's decision to send pilots from the erstwhile
Indian Airlines for training on the Dreamliner. The guild had been laying
exclusive claim to this aircraft.
· Gulf-bound passengers worst-hit
· Strike by Indian Pilots Guild
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