AI strike enters day 2, 10K stranded

New Delhi: National carrier Air India plunged into its worst crisis ever as another 200-odd executive pilots joined the stir on Thursday, taking the total number of striking pilots to about 830. Over half of the 320 daily flights that operate within the country and on short haul international routes were cancelled and more than 10,000 passengers were left stranded across the country.
AI has now stopped fresh bookings for domestic and short-haul international flights operated on its Airbus A-320 fleet till next Tuesday. AI (domestic) now has only 10 commanders and 25 co-pilots still working. Almost 200 management-cadre pilots joined ranks with the 650-strong Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) on Thursday, 69 of whom called in sick and did not operate their flights.
A miffed government is now not ruling out a lockout unless pilots return to work immediately. “Let us see. I hope better sense prevails,” aviation minister Vayalar Ravi said when asked whether lockout was an option.
The AI management, which has sacked six and suspended one pilot, sacked one more (Captain V K Bhalla who had spearheaded the last pilot strike two years back) and suspended two more pilots on Thursday. But the ICPA is unmoved by any of these stern actions and claims to be getting support from more pilots.
Not surprisingly, the conciliation attempted by the central labour commissioner on Thursday between the two warring sides did not yield any result. The toughening of stand became clear when Ravi lashed out at the pilots. “They are plus two (12th pass), not even graduates. They start at Rs 3.65 lakh (monthly salary) while others earn Rs 50 a day. They should call off the strike and come for talks,” he said. The pilots have even asked DGCA to see if AI is operating its flights with the required crew as most of the pilots are on strike. Having operations without the required crew could mean compromising passenger safety. AIofficials said the strike is causing an additional daily loss of Rs 4 crore. On non-strike days, the airline’s average daily loss is Rs 21 crore with a revenue of Rs 36 crore and expense of Rs 57 crore.Which means now the loss is Rs 25 crore every day.