September 14, 2009
Pilots at India’s Jet Airways resumed work Sunday ending a five-day strike that led to the cancellation of more than 800 flights, company officials said.
The standoff between the airline and its pilots ended late Saturday after the company agreed to reinstate four pilots who were fired for trying to form a pilots’ union.
“We have reached an amicable agreement on all issues,” Saroj Dutta, executive director at Jet Airways, told reporters.
From Sunday, “the airline will operate its full schedule of services” on its domestic and international flights with all crew reporting for duty, it said in a statement.
Nearly 450 of more than 700 Jet pilots called in sick for five days. More than 800 flights were canceled since Sept 8.
Jet offered a full refund to passengers whose flights were canceled, but thousands were stranded and had to scramble to get other flights.
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After nearly two days of talks, the airline and pilots’ representatives said the sacked pilots would be rehired and that a “consultative group” would be formed comprising representatives of the company and pilots to continue the process of dialogue to resolve all their problems.
Jet Airways suffered a loss of nearly US$8 million a day during the strike, according to the Indian Express newspaper.
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