Air India flights in the domestic sector witnessed disruptions on Saturday after about 50 of its pilots shunned flying duties as part of their “work to rule” agitation against the government's failure to pay their salaries and allowances.
At least 36 Air India flights, including some from and to international destinations, were cancelled on Saturday as a section of pilots reported for duty but did not operate flights.
Meeting
At least 28 flights were cancelled from the capital till Saturday evening and eight from Mumbai. Office-bearers of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), representing pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines, held a meeting with the airline management here. The ICPA has not given the call for agitation. The government, however, said it would take steps to resolve the issue.
Flights to Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Leh, Bangalore, Bagdogra, Amritsar and Kolkata were cancelled. A section of Air India pilots had decided to go on “no pay, no work” agitation from Friday midnight. The pilots held meetings in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai before taking recourse to the agitation.
However, all international flights, including the long-haul ones to cities such as London, New York, Toronto and Chicago, were on schedule, according to an Air India spokesperson. But flights to Kabul, Kathmandu, Muscat and Abu Dhabi were cancelled, airline sources said.
Confusion
Confusion reigned supreme at the Indira Gandhi International airport in the capital with harried passengers lining up at Air India counters to find out the status of their flights. Several domestic flights were delayed, some cancelled and others were combined on some sectors.
The agitating pilots reported for duty but said they were “under stress” due to the financial problems and were unable to undertake flight duties, airline sources said. The ICPA appealed to them to return to work. ICPA leaders met the airline management in Delhi, where 22 pilots reported being “under stress.” The agitating pilots claimed that their allowances, constituting 80 per cent of their salary, had not been paid since last August.
Some report sick
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said the pilots had not sent a notice but some reported sick. “Some disruption of flights is there in Delhi but nothing has happened anywhere else. The employees have a problem, they have not been paid for one-two months. Allowances have not been paid for quite a few months now. We understand their problem but Air India's finances are in a bad condition,” he said.
The Minister said he would meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee next week to find a solution so that a major chunk of salaries and allowances could be paid.
Emphasising that Air India had a long-term financial problem, Mr. Singh said the government was worried about the employees. “Any employee who does not get paid for months, we can understand their problem. We are working to resolve the short-term problem. We hope by the end of next week, these should be resolved,” he said. Some of the pilots said the airline owed each of them between Rs. 15 lakh and Rs. 25 lakh.
