India’s national carrier, Air India, cancelled 37 domestic and nine international flights Tuesday as a standoff between management and striking pilots over pay cuts entered its fourth day.
The airline, which operates up to 200 flights daily, also suspended bookings for the next 15 days, officials said.
Air India said it was shifting passengers to flights operated by other airlines.
International flights to Kabul, Kathmandu, New York, London, Chicago, Toronto and Frankfurt were among those cancelled after more pilots reported in sick, a statement from Air India said.
The Air India pilots union, which has more than 400 members, has been protesting the management’s decision to cut productivity-linked incentives paid to workers by 25 to 50 per cent.
The move would affect about 7,000 employees of the cash-strapped airline.
Federal Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel urged Air India pilots to report back to work and assured them that any decision regarding wage cuts would be taken after consulting them.
‘No formal decision regarding cut in productivity-linked incentives or others has been taken,’ Patel was quoted as saying by IANS news agency. ‘I urge all employees and pilots to report to work.’
Patel said the government was doing everything possible to support the state-run airline and urged all employees to cooperate to ensure a turnaround. A total of 87 pilots had reported in sick since Monday evening, forcing Air India to curtail its flight schedule, a statement from Air India said.
The pilots’ action followed a meeting Monday in New Delhi between Air India chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav and the pilots, which ended in a stalemate.
‘Air India is keeping its channels of communication with executive pilots open so that those wishing to have their concerns addressed/clarified can do so,’ the statement said.
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Federal Aviation Secretary NM Nambiar met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to apprise him of the situation, the IANS news agency reported.
Nambiar also called a meeting of management from all airlines in New Delhi to discuss the strike and how such walkouts could be avoided.
‘I have asked them not to hike fares at this time and also to accommodate those passengers whose flights were cancelled,’ Nambiar was quoted as saying by IANS after Tuesday’s meeting.
This month, another protest by pilots at privately owned Jet Airways caused days of disruption with hundreds of passengers stranded at airports across the country.
India’s aviation sector has been struggling with the rising cost of fuel and declining passenger traffic because of the global economic slowdown.
The federation of Indian Airlines has said Indian carriers suffered losses of 100 billion rupees (about 2 billion dollars) in the past fiscal year, which ended March 31.
Air India’s losses alone accounted for half that figure. The National Aviation Co Ltd, which owns Air India, has asked the federal government for a bail-out. The company deferred June salaries to its 31,000 employees by 15 days, leading to protests.
The company was formed by combining Air India with the domestic carrier Indian Airlines in 2007.
Industry analysts said Air India’s huge losses stemmed partly from overstaffing and poor management. A major restructuring plan is believed to be in the works.
Plans to privatize the state-run airline has been in the pipeline since 2001 but have run into opposition from unions.
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