Air India terminates 25 more pilots, stand-off continues

New Delhi: As the Air India pilot's strike, in its fourth day today, continues to cripple the national carrier, the airline has terminated 25 additional pilots for not reporting to work, taking the total number of sacked pilots to 71. The national carrier has also moved the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), also known as the aviation watchdog, for cancelling pilots' licence under the Aircraft rule. Despite the extreme action, the pilots remain defiant.

Earlier today, a worried Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and apprised him on the stand-off. At the brief meeting in Parliament this morning, the PM asked the minister to ensure that air fares don't rise because of the strike.

"I updated the PM on latest developments. Whatever we are doing is according to the government policy. He has asked me to ensure that fares should not be increased because of these strikes. The Cabinet has approved huge amount in the turnover plan to save Air India, but Air India family (union) should understand and co-operate," the minister told reporters.

The Delhi High Court had on Wednesday declared the strike illegal. After this, the airline's management filed a contempt of court application against the pilots. But the Supreme Court today refused to entertain that plea. Instead, it advised the national carrier to sit with its pilots to sort out differences.

"I am not aware of what the Supreme Court has said. But we have always been willing to talk. However, we maintain that there is no need for the pilots to undertake an illegal strike," Mr Singh said when informed about the development in the top court.

Around 250 of Air India pilots remain on strike for the fourth day today. They began calling in sick early on Monday morning. The management then sent doctors to homes of at least 50 of them. "I am also hoping that the pilots get well, they are sick, I hope they get well," the minister said, adding that he was more worried about Air India "which was already on the sick bay may move to ICU. That is what pilots should consider."

"The main problem is how to make Air India stand on its feet...how to make it profitable. And in that effort, all employees and all their unions will have to co-operate. Otherwise it (Air India) will not stay afloat. They have to realise that if they do not rise above their personal interest, Air India will sink and with that all of them will sink," he said.

The pilots say the management has failed to give them the promotions that are due. They also say that it's unacceptable for Indian Airlines pilots to be trained to fly the new Boeing Dreamliner, which is meant to join the national carrier's fleet later this month.

In 2007, Air India was merged with Indian Airlines, the government-owned domestic carrier. Since then, pilots from the two airlines have clashed repeatedly over issues like parity in pay and seniority.

As a consequence of the ongoing stand-off, at least 12 Air India flights have been cancelled today, and angry passengers say they have no information.


KINGFISHER CRISIS: MALLYA THREATENS ACTION AGAINST PILOTS ON STRIKE

To add to passengers' woes, pilots of Kingfisher Airlines too are on strike, with several pilots calling in sick in Delhi and at least 12 flights to and from the capital being cancelled. Kingfisher pilots claim they have not yet received salary for January even though they were promised that they would get it by May 9. In a fresh letter today, Vijay Mallya has threatened action against employees going on strike. "We will act firmly and decisively "he says adding, "We will not allow small group of misguided employees to derail and jeopardise operations."

Mr Mallya in the same letter has urged employees to ensure that the revised schedule is maintained stating that pending salaries are being paid.

Last night, Kingfisher began paying pending salary to its co-pilots and ground staff; the pilots say they are yet to be paid salary or arrears. At least 17 Kingfisher flights to or from Delhi were cancelled yesterday.

Kingfisher pilots have been not been paid salary since January, say sources. Reuters reported this week that owner Vijay Mallya wrote on May 5 to employees, stating that January salaries would be paid starting Wednesday this week. "It is my personal endeavour to not only clear the January salaries, but also clear a significant part of the February salaries by the end of this month itself," Mr Mallya wrote, according to Reuters.

The cash-strapped airline has been struggling to stay afloat despite massive debt. In the last fiscal year, it declared losses of 1027 crores. The Aviation Minister made it clear today that since Kingfisher is a private airline, they will have to mobilise funds on their own.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/air-india-terminates-25-more-pilots-stand-off-continues-209707

DGCA warns airlines on unreasonable hike in fares

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has warned airlines not raise airfares to unreasonable levels following a sudden spurt in prices of tickets due to a strike by Air India (AI) pilots. Kingfisher Airlines pilots, meanwhile, withdrew their stir after being promised that January.

salaries would be paid by May 15.

Hindustan Times had reported on Friday that international airfares had risen by as much as 20% following the AI crisis, which had led to mismatch in supply and demand during the peak travel season. The matter had also been raised in the Parliament on Thursday.

"It has been brought to the notice of the DGCA through search of websites of airlines and media reports as well as feedback from air travellers that fares on certain high demand sectors have registered a sudden spurt, which is almost 15% to 20% higher on various metro routes compared to a month ago," the regulator said in its order.

It noted that the cost of operation of scheduled airlines on account of various constituent elements have not undergone any major change over the past two months.

"In view of the above, all the scheduled domestic airlines are directed to ensure that fares offered on various sectors remain within the fare band uploaded on the website of respective airlines," the DGCA order said. The aviation regulator asked airlines to "ensure that no upward revision in tariff is effected due to ongoing industrial unrest in AI and also surge in demand during this period."

The order said any violation of these directives will be dealt with under the provisions of Rule 135 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, which provides for intervention by the DGCA in case transparency in air fares is violated by any airline.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/SectorsAviation/DGCA-warns-airlines-on-unreasonable-hike-in-fares/Article1-854432.aspx

Air India sacks 25 more pilots, works on contingency plan

The crisis in Air India worsened on Friday with the airline management sacking 25 more pilots and writing to DGCA to cancel the licenses of 11 dismissed office bearers of the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) after over 200 striking pilots refused to return to work. "Air India is escalating the matter rather than resolving the issue," Tauseef Mukaddam, IPG spokesman said, making it clear that their agitation will continue.

He said the pilots have sought time for a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh to find an amicable solution.

In a statement tonight, Air India said it has terminated the services of 25 striking pilots "taking a serious view of the situation". With this, the total number of pilots who have been dismissed since the agitation started on Tuesday has gone up to 71.

AI has also written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asking it to cancel the licenses of 11 office bearers of the IPG whose services have been terminated.

On Friday, Air India also began working on a contingency plan to salvage its international operations as the agitation by pilots continued for the fourth day forcing the airline to cancel 12 more flights and reschedule over a dozen.

The carrier's low cost subsidiary Air India Express also cancelled five flights in the day during which civil aviation minister Ajit Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and apprised him about the steps being taken to resolve the crisis.

"We are working on a plan. This involves operating a bare minimum number of flights on the international sector. This plan may come into effect from early next week," a senior Air India official said.

"We have plans to bring in executive and reserve pilots to operate the flights. We also have plans to wet lease aircraft to operate on the affected routes."

The airline has stopped bookings on some of its ultra long-haul routes till May 15, effectively cancelling more than 15 flights per day to major sectors such as the US, Europe, and some other destinations like Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Air India also had grounded the bulk of its Boeing 777 fleet. The airline has 17 B-777 aircraft.

"We have almost grounded the fleet of 777s. Some are stationed in Mumbai and the rest are in Delhi. Some are operating to destinations like Hong Kong and Shanghai, depending on the availability of pilots," a senior official in the operations arm of the airline said.

As the stir by over 200 Air India pilots entered the fourth day, the protestors on Friday approached the government for talks after the Supreme Court refused to initiate contempt proceedings against them and instead asked the airline to negotiate.

Faced with a tough-talking AI management, which was backed by the government, and public anger over cancellations and delays in the holiday season, the agitating pilots made the first move for talks to end the impasse.

The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG, which is spearheading the agitation, sought time to hold talks with civil aviation mMinister Ajit Singh, Guild spokesperson Tauseef Mukaddam said in Mumbai.

On its part, the government also offered to talk to the pilots but with a rider that they must return to work.

The minister briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the developments and later appealed to the pilots to resume duty. Though the minister ruled out invoking the provisions of Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) on them, he said their strike was illegal.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice TS Thakur hearing a petition filed by Air India said the striking pilots had done nothing which amounted to contempt and asked the airline to hold talks and sort out differences with them.

The stir led to the cancellation of 23 international and domestic flights of Air India and its subsidiary AI Express on Friday, putting hundreds of passengers to hardship.

AI's contingency plan

The national carrier decided to put in place a contingency plan from Monday to beef up long-haul operations and started the process of wet-leasing some aircraft.

Under this, the airline would operate seven flights to the US via Europe, out of a total of 16 using wide-body aircraft. Executive pilots would operate the flights, Commercial Director Deepak Brara said in Delhi.

The airline was also considering wet-leasing some wide-body planes, he said but did not give the exact number of aircraft to be hired, adding "we would require some aircraft to help us operate 4-5 flights".

Under wet-lease, the lessor provides flight crew with the leased aircraft. The planes are planned to be leased for a short period, airline officials said.

Under the plan, Air India would operate flights to New York JFK and Chicago with one stopover in either Paris or Frankfurt. Terminator flights to London would operate from Delhi, officials said, but added that all this were subject to getting time slots at these European airports.

Air India has a wide-body fleet of 20 Boeing 777s, three Boeing 747s and two Airbus A-330s. It has a total of 80 executive pilots.

The plan to operate seven out of a total of 16 wide-body flights would continue till normalcy was restored, they said, adding that a large chunk of the 20 B 777s were grounded in Mumbai and Delhi due to non-availability of pilots.

Ajit Singh said all unions have to rise above their "personal interests".

"If they want to talk, they should come to work, and all issues can be discussed, the high court has declared their strike as illegal," he said.

The IPG has been refusing to return to work unless the management takes back the pilots whose services have been terminated and the order derecognising IPG withdrawn.

The cash-strapped national carrier is losing revenue of Rs. 10-12 crore a day due to the stir, apart from a daily incremental cost of Rs. 3-5 crore, officials said.

The cancelled flights were from Mumbai and Delhi to New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Toronto, Frankfurt, London, Paris.

The national carrier has already stopped bookings till May 15 on its flights to US, Canada, Europe and Riyadh.

The apex court, while asking the Air India management to "sort out" the problems with the striking pilots, refused to entertain its plea for initiating contempt proceedings against IPG for allegedly obstructing implementation of its order on training of pilots for Dreamliner aircraft.

The bench said the pilots "have done nothing for obstruction of justice or to bring disrepute to the court.

Your problem is with them. You sit with them and sort out the differences. Don't resort to contempt proceedings."

However, it said if the strike is illegal, then the airline can take action against them.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/SectorsAviation/AI-works-on-contingency-plan-as-pilots-strike-drags-on/Article1-854348.aspx

As pilots continue stir, Air India draws up contingency plan

Crisis-hit flag carrier Air India, battling an agitation by a section of its pilots for the past four days, on Friday put in place a contingency plan that will take effect from Monday, allowing the airline to operate a curtailed schedule on some busy international sectors.

Air India's Commercial Director D. Brara said the airline was also looking at the possibility of wet leasing aircraft to operate four or five international flights. He said that from Monday the airline would be able to operate seven out of 16 daily flights to the West.

Assuring travellers of Air India's efforts to adhere to a curtailed schedule that would cater to long-haul flights to the U.S. with a stopover in Europe, Mr. Brara said non-stop flights to Chicago and New York would have a stop either in Frankfurt, Paris or London. The airline has stopped fresh booking on international sectors till May 15.

As the strike by pilots, owing allegiance to the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), has thrown international operations of the ailing Air India in disarray, the airline management expressed the hope that agitating pilots would respond to the offer of talks by the government and return to work.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also briefed on the situation arising out of the agitation of the pilots by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, as the stir led to the cancellation of nearly a dozen international flights, aggravating the suffering and misery of hundreds of passengers in the peak holiday season, and causing huge losses to the cash-strapped public sector carrier.

No ESMA: Minister

Mr. Singh, while appealing to the striking pilots to end their stir, and seeking their cooperation, ruled out imposing the provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) on them.

Asking the Air India management to “sort out” the problems with the striking pilots, the Supreme Court refused to entertain its plea for initiating contempt proceedings against the IPG, for allegedly hindering implementation of its order on training of pilots for the Boeing Dreamliner aircraft.

Mr. Singh said all Unions had to put aside their “personal interests.” He reiterated: “If they want to talk, they should come to work, and all issues can be discussed... The High Court has declared their strike illegal. We are willing to discuss with any union, but they should call off the strike, especially when it is vacation time. If Air India doesn't stay afloat, all their jobs will be at stake.”

On its part, the IPG ruled out returning to work, unless the management reinstates the pilots whose services have been terminated, and their Union is recognised. “The ball is in the management's court,” IPG spokesperson Tauseef Mukadam said.

Air India is suffering a loss of Rs. 10 crore to Rs. 12 crore daily due to the agitation, but aviation analysts have said the long-term impact on the national carrier will be “disastrous” at a time when the government has cleared a Rs. 30,000-crore bailout package for the airline.

Meanwhile, a section of pilots of private carrier Kingfisher on Friday called off their two-day agitation due to non-payment of salaries after some persuasion by the carrier's boss Vijay Mallya, who vowed to deal with the situation “firmly.”

The pilots decided to return to work following a meeting with the airline management in the Capital, after flights were cancelled for the second day on Friday. The airline was forced to cancel 12 flights from Delhi and Mumbai, as approximately 70-odd pilots from north India did not report for duty.

The management has assured the employees of remitting the January salaries by May 15, and a part-payment of the February dues will follow soon, Kingfisher sources said. Kingfisher has been facing financial troubles for almost a year. It suffered a loss of approximately Rs. 1,027 crore in 2010-11, and has a debt of Rs. 7,057.08 crore.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3407905.ece

Flight cancellations benefit Middle-East carriers

Mumbai/Bangalore, May 11:

The Air India flight cancellations have disrupted the holiday plans of several travellers.

However, it is the Middle-East carriers that are benefitting from the present imbroglio.

Travel agents and tour operators said that Middle-East carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad are seeing a rise in their load factors.

“These flights are almost 90 per cent full,” said a Mumbai-based travel agent. In fact, there has been a drastic shift of travel preference for other carriers as a result to AI flight cancellations.

“The immediate impact has been five to six per cent drop in the load factors of Air India. Even the others who have not made their bookings in Air India now prefer these airlines,” said Mr Iqbal Mulla, President, Travel Agents Association of India.

However, the shift to other international carriers has come at price for travellers.

“The air fares of international carriers are up 10-20 per cent, as most of the low-fare seats in the foreign airlines have already been sold out. Passengers, who are faced with a sudden flight cancellation, have the last bargain seats which are costlier,” said Mr Jimmy Alexander, Bangalore-based travel agent.

The Air India flight cancellations also had a fallout on the domestic sector. “The travellers prefer to fly with airline companies like Jet Airways and low-cost carriers like Indigo,” Mr Mulla said.

Air India Express flights to Kozhikode, Tiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Madurai were affected due to the pilots' strike that entered its fourth day on Friday leaving scores of travellers stranded.

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Ajit Singh meets PM, Sonia as Air India pilots stir continues

New Delhi, May 11:

With Air India pilots' agitation affecting normal schedules, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Ajit Singh, met the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the United Progressive Alliance Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, here on Friday.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister is believed to have asked Mr Ajit Singh to ensure that there is no surge in air fares.

The Prime Minister expressed his concern even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation wrote to various airlines asking them to ensure that there is no “upward revision” in tariff due to ongoing industrial unrest in Air India and also surge in demand.

This follows search by the DGCA of Web sites of airlines and media reports as well as feedback from air travellers that fares on certain high demand sectors had registered a sudden spurt. The fares were said to be 15-20 per cent higher on various metro routes compared to a month ago.

Sources indicate that the Civil Aviation Minister's meeting with Ms Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister was to keep them abreast of the hard steps that the airline is taking to bring about integration between Air India and Indian.

“The decision to train pilots of both Air India and Indian on the Boeing 787 aircraft is the first hard step that has been taken to implement the merger process. The Minister probably wanted to keep the political leadership abreast of the latest developments in the Air India agitation,” sources indicated.

Earlier in the day, speaking to newspersons in Parliament, the Minister said that the Government was willing to talk to any one as long as they returned to work. “It is not an issue of being stubborn. If they want to talk, they should come to work and all issues can be discussed,” the Minister said, adding that the High Court had already declared the strike illegal.

Mr Singh ruled out imposing provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance Act on Air India workers.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/article3407591.ece?ref=wl_industry-and-economy

As stir continues, Air India draws up contingency plan

New Delhi / Mumbai May 11:

Air India is drawing up a contingency plan that will see it operate seven daily flights to the US through Europe.

The airline currently operates 16 flights a day with large, wide-body aircraft used to fly to the US, Europe, the Far East, and South-East Asia — all sectors affected by the agitation by a section of pilots.

The airline will operate the contingency plan using ecxecutive pilots who, because of their seniority, not only fly but also perform some executive functions on the ground.

Such senior pilots cannot form unions and, therefore, cannot go on an agitation or strike.

The airline also plans to wet lease some aircraft so that it can operate 4-5 more daily international flights, the airline's Commercial Director, Mr Deepak Brara, told newspersons on Friday.

“The contingency plan of operating seven daily flights should kick in late morning Monday or Tuesday. We will look to operate these flights through either London, Paris or Frankfurt. The timing and routing of these operations will be announced soon,” Mr Brara said.

Wet lease

Officials claimed that Air India has sent out about 300 e-mails to wet-lease aircraft and received 12 offers. A wet lease involves acquiring an aircraft with crew.

Air India proposes to lease the aircraft for the “shortest possible time.” Officials admitted that leasing an aircraft for a short period will be a costly proposition.

These steps are being worked out as the agitation by sections of pilots has thrown the airline's normal schedule out of gear. On Friday, the airline cancelled six flights from Delhi to Toronto, Paris, Frankfurt and London. From Mumbai, the flights to Newark and London were cancelled.

The pilots' agitation is causing a revenue loss of Rs 10-12 crore a day, officials indicated.

Kingfisher

Meanwhile, Kingfisher passengers got a reprieve after the pilots called off their strike. On Thursday, the airline's Chairman, Mr Vijay Mallya, wrote to employees threatening action against striking workers. Mr Mallya threatened to “act firmly and decisively,” saying he will not allow a “small group of misguided employees to derail and jeopardise operations”.

A section of KFA pilots from Delhi and Mumbai did not report for work on Thursday to protest the non-payment of January salaries.

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