Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh was quoted as telling a TV channel late on Tuesday, “If they (pilots) want to shut down Air India, they can do it very easily. And they have to decide what they want to do ... But if you consider if we completely shut down Air India, there will be other repercussions. Of course, that vacuum can be filled but it will take time and meanwhile the passengers will pay. The airfares will shoot up and they (AI) have 17 per cent of traffic today. You suddenly can’t fill up that gap.”
Significantly, Mr Ajit Singh was also quoted as saying, “I believe that the government cannot and should not run any industry, especially a service industry. Because in the service industry the customer is the king and government employees have a different attitude ... But even if we want to disinvest first, we have to bring it to that level so that anybody will be interested in investing in Air India.”
However, the pilots on strike seem to have hardened their stand, a development indicating bad times ahead for the airline’s foreign-bound passengers. A prominent representative of the IPG pilots, who was among those sacked, told this newspaper the sackings and derecognition would not dent the pilots’ resolve to press for their demand. “How can we have talks with the management if this is the action they are going to take,” he said, adding that the pilots had been called for a discussion by the chief labour commissioner.
AI flights such as Delhi-Chicago, Delhi-Toronto, Delhi-Hong Kong, Mumbai-Newark, Mumbai-Jeddah were cancelled Tuesday while a few AI Express flights from Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram to the Gulf were also cancelled. Another AI flight from Delhi to Singapore late on Tuesday has also been cancelled. Government officials said passengers were being informed in advance about the cancellations.
Ministry sources pointed out that the pilots are being paid lakhs of rupees per month, with commanders getting about `8 lakh per month and some co-pilots getting up to `3 lakh per month. Scores of pilots went on strike after their demand — of being granted time-bound promotion in six years to the post of commander — was rejected by the civil aviation ministry on Monday evening. The international-route pilots are also upset that domestic-route pilots have been sent to Singapore for training on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The AI management also despatched medical teams to the homes of the pilots to check on their condition.
Sources said more sackings of pilots may follow if the medical reports say they are not sick. Reporting sick has become a stratagem for pilots.
even in the past since the pilots are usually wary of giving a strike notice two weeks in advance. Government sources said further stern action would follow if the pilots did not end their strike by Tuesday. On the other hand, if the strike gathers momentum, more international flights could be hit late on Tuesday night and in the early morning hours of Wednesday. If all 450 IPG pilots join the strike in the coming days, AI’s international operations could be disrupted considerably.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Ajit Singh said, “They (pilots) are reporting sick. They have not given any notice for any strike. So whatever the AI management rules and regulations, action will be taken accordingly. In the midst of the talks with the AI management, they (pilots) started taking sick leaves because of which flights have been cancelled. If their talks with AI have failed, they could have spoken to the ministry or to me. They (pilots) have a number of well-wishers.” He added, “Strike is illegal. There is a way to launch a strike. Every section has grievances and problems. But there are ways.”
In a strongly-worded statement Tuesday evening, AI said, “On the evening of May 7, ... the (striking) pilots chose to deliberately damage the image and reputation of the company by disrupting flights by proceeding on mass sick leave. This most extreme and irresponsible agitation aimed at disrupting flight schedules, inflicting inconvenience on our esteemed passengers, and damaging the company’s image and reputation, has been viewed most seriously by the airline. As a consequence, Air India has derecognised the IPG and sealed its offices. It has also terminated the services of and dismissed 10 office-bearers of IPG.”
AI added, “Air India is making efforts to operate some schedules with non-unionised category of pilots. Air India has strengthened its operational resources at major airports to assist and facilitate passengers of disrupted flights. Air India is also making efforts to accommodate disrupted flight passengers on flights of other airlines.”