In further trouble for strike-hit Air India, 22 of its 120 executive pilots have reported ‘sick’ at a time when the national carrier is struggling to maintain its international operations.
Air India Chairman-cum-Managing Director Rohit Nandan on Tuesday said while 22 pilots reported ‘sick,’ three don’t have passport and three others have applied for emergency leave citing reasons such as illness in the family.
He stated this after a delegation of executive pilots met him to press for early resolution to the 44-day strike by 400 non-executive pilots.
The executive pilots have been complaining of stress because of increased workload. Mr. Nandan said prior to the strike, an executive pilot was doing 72 hours in a month.
Now they were only doing 64 hours.