Air India for once has the entire country on its side as it reportedly dismissed at least 40 employees, suspended 17 others and derecognised the irresponsible Air Corporation Employees Union and Air India Aircraft Engineers Association for having gone on a flash strike. Over 13,000 passengers, including small children, were left stranded at airports across the country, and some had harrowing stories. The national carrier had to cancel at least 130 flights, incoming and outbound, and suffer a loss of nearly Rs 12 crores during the 48-hour strike. The image of unreliability it acquired will linger much longer: at a conservative estuimate, for every 100 passengers affected, at least 10 will swear never to fly Air India again. It is to be hoped there will be no political interference forcing the airline to rescind its dismissal notices so that a strong message is sent out that irresponsible, vindictive behaviour will not be tolerated. It is understood these unions are of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, and have not reconciled themselves to the hasty merger of the two airlines. Images of pot-bellied union leaders and members marching on the streets of New Delhi shouting slogans infuriated a country trying to come to terms with last Saturday’s horrific Mangalore tragedy that took the lives of 158 people.
The unions’ stated reason for going on strike at such a juncture was flimsy, to say the least. Some of their leaders were asked to show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken against them for giving the media false and damaging information about the Air India relief plane that brought the families of the crash victims and some relief materials from Dubai to Mangalore the day after the crash. It being an emergency flight organised at short notice, there was no time to wait for an engineer who always accompanies a flight. But Air India took the services of an engineer belonging to another airline to certify that the plane was airworthy before takeoff, and also sought the DGCA’s permission. However, an engineer belonging to the union informed the media that Air India had compromised on the safety of the aircraft and passengers. This was particularly damaging at a time when the beleaguered carrier was in discussions with insurance companies following Saturday’s crash. In sending the showcause, Air India only activated a July 2009 order which clearly stated disciplinary action would be taken against those who “freely aired their views in the media that have a direct bearing on the company’s image and revenues”. The striking unions called it a “gag order” and managed to mislead the media, which too did not do its homework. The unions had challenged this order in 2009, but the high court had rejected their petition. Another reason given for the illegal strike was a delay in May salaries, which appears facetious considering that several airlines have been paying salaries a little later than usual due to financial constraints. One union leader said in an interview that the management was to blame for the airline’s dire financial straits. But even if that were true, and even if some of the unions’ demands had some merit, there was simply no justification for a strike which left thousands of travellers stranded and put to hardship for no fault of their own. The unions could have used several avenues to register their protest: gone to the courts, used the Right to Information Act to make the facts known, taken the help of political leaders to have the matter raised in Parliament... A strike, after all, should be the last resort. As a wise sage once said, if you want a mango tree, you cannot sow a chickoo seed!