10 more pilots
sacked; services disrupted for third day
Mumbai/New
Delhi, May 9:
The Delhi High
Court on Wednesday restrained Air India pilots from going on strike or
disrupting airline schedules.
This follows
the Air India management filing a suit in the Delhi High Court against the
action of a section of pilots. Some Air India pilots went on sudden leave,
disrupting normal flight operations for the third day.
The airline
cancelled six flights on Wednesday, including the Mumbai-Newark return service,
Mumbai- New Jersey and the Mumbai-Jeddah flights. In addition, five flights
from Delhi to Singapore, JFK (New York), Chicago and Toronto were also
cancelled.
The management
today sacked 10 more pilots, who had gone on sudden leave. They are agitating
against the management's decision to allow pilots of the erstwhile Indian
(Airlines) to train on the Boeing 787 aircraft, the Dreamliner. The management
derecognised the Indian Pilots Guild, an apex body of Air India pilots, on
Tuesday and sealed their offices in Delhi and Mumbai. The airline is also
sending medical teams to the residence of pilots to check on their health.
Official
sources indicated that in the last three days, at least 10 international
flights had been cancelled as a result of the agitation. Apart from causing
inconvenience to passengers, the airline is seeing a 25-30 per cent decline in
daily revenues. Its daily earnings from international operations are down to Rs
9 crore now from Rs 15 crore.
Travel agents
said that the bookings of all West-bound flights of Air India were stopped from
Tuesday. Travellers say that they were not informed about the cancellations in
advance.
Air India
carries about 8,000 international passengers every day and operates 50
international and 400 domestic flights daily. “This is a peak travel season.
With the aviation sector already in trouble, this unrest and cancellations are
creating further imbalance and will lead to escalation of air fares,” said Mr
Iqbal Mulla, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/article3402033.ece
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