Air India begins international operations, 3 'sick' pilots resume duty

In an attempt to restore normalcy,Air India on Wednesday began international operations to the US and Europe as part of its contingency plan even as striking pilots asked the government to initiate preliminary talks.

As the stir by the pilots entered the ninth day, the airline curtailed and clubbed many of its flights to the US and Europe to stabilize international operations.

"We have put in force our contingency plan and started operating our international flights, which were affected for the past eight days causing great inconvenience to our customers. Slowly, we hope that our operations would normalise," said an Air India official.The national carrier, operated Delhi-Paris-New York (JFK) and Delhi-Frankfurt-Chicago flight early this morning while it would be operating Delhi-Shanghai and Delhi-London as per schedule.

"We have merged Mumbai-London and Mumbai-Shanghai flights with the Delhi-London and Delhi-Shanghai flights. We are operating these flights with Boeing 777 ER aircraft so we won't have problem accommodating the passengers," the official said, adding this will bring relief to many of our passengers who were anxious about their flights status.

Most of our passengers are those who have booked tickets months ago for their journey, he said, adding if situation permits then we may open our bookings for our ultra-long flights, which have been suspended till tomorrow."We have deployed Airbus 320 aircraft for our short haul flights to Bangkok, Singapore and other destinations," he said.

In another development, the striking Air India pilots asked the government to at least initiate preliminary talks. "The government should at least being preliminary talks. We are ready for talks but they should formally invite us for talks to resolve the issue," Jitendra Awhad, head of the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) said.

'Sick pilots' return to work

Meanwhile, on day nine of the stir by over 200 Air India pilots, three pilots resumed duty today and the protesters said they were "open" to talks with the government to resolve the impasse.

IPG, which is spearheading the agitation, said in a statement it was "open to meeting with officials of the management and/or ministry at any place at any time in order to resolve these issues and bring an end to the current impasse." An AI spokesperson said, "three sick pilots have resumed duty today". The IPG claimed that they were not its members. The agitation has led to curtailment of the airline's international operations.

Even as it offered to get to the negotiating table, the IPG accused the airline management of providing "incorrect" inputs on their demands to civil aviation minister Ajit Singh. "The strike continues ... We don't want pilots to be martyred," IPG president and NCP MLA Jitendra Ahwad told PTI when asked whether they were willing to call off their agitation that has led to a revenue loss of over Rs 150 crore to the loss-making carrier besides causing inconvenience to passengers.

Ajit Singh has promised to hear the pilots' grievances unconditionally and appealed to them to return to work, saying they had the "last chance" to revive the "almost bankrupt" airline. He has also assured them there would be no vindictive action if the striking pilots came for talks unconditionally.

Asked to comment on the ongoing stir, heavy industry minister and senior NCP leader Praful Patel said, "it is unfair for me to comment on anything that is going on. All I can say is that the aviation minister's approach is right and I fully support the minister for whatever steps he has taken and intends to take."

Source:timesofindia.indiatimes

Air India strike: Grievances will be heard unconditionally, govt tells pilots

Issuing yet another appeal to the striking Air India pilots to return to work, government on Tuesday promised to hear their grievances unconditionally without any vindictive action, as it noted that the stir had cost an "almost bankrupt" airline Rs 150 crore.

"Strike is not an answer to solve your grievances .... All the grievances will be heard unconditionally. You come to talks unconditionally ... please go back to work," civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said, appealing to the pilots while replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the civil aviation sector and Air India.

"Air India management will in no way be vindictive towards any employee .... a lot of young people have just joined (as pilots). But the first priority should be that passengers are not inconvenienced," he said.His response came as members, cutting across party lines, wanted an immediate end to the pilots' agitation and expressed concern over the health of Air India, while questioning the decision of merging the two erstwhile state-run carriers -- Air India and Indian Airlines.

Singh told the House that Air India, which was already "almost bankrupt", had lost Rs 150 crore due to the strike which completed eight days. Its credibility was also affected. Regretting that pilots had resorted to strike during peak season, he said the government had announced Rs 30,000 crore as bailout package over eight years.

"This is bailout is not without strings. They have to meet strict standards. If they meet these standards, then we will release public money. We can't keep pouring public money. This is the last chance for them to perform," the Minister said, seeking cooperation of all employees in this regard.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes

We want to save Air India, ready for unconditional talks with government: Pilots

The agitating pilots of Air India on Saturday said they are willing to hold unconditional talks with the government to end the impasse caused by their five-day strike, but claimed the management is not keen to listen to their demands.

"We have written to them (management) several times in the past, letting them know of our demands. We are very willing to hold talks, discussions with the government, with the management. We also want to save Air India," said Jitendra Awhad, president of Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG). 

"We have not put any pre-conditions for holding talks. But we are saddened over the fact that the government, the management can hold talks, make deals with the agitators from the other union (Indian Commercial Pilots Association) when they went on strike three months ago, but can't do the same with us," said Awhad. 

The agitating pilots have also approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention on demands which are deemed by senior members of the protesting aviators' community as "genuine."Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh had earlier said that the pilots first need to come back and join work before any talks with them could be started. "If they want to talk, they should come to work, and all issues can be discussed... We are going to take a long-term view," Ajit Singh had said. Singh on Friday also informed the PM about the efforts that are being made to resolve the crisis. 

The pilots' protest continued for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday, forcing the management to cancel 14 flights and re-scheduling many others. The carrier's low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, also cancelled six flights. "Fourteen flights have been cancelled and some may be rescheduled on domestic routes. We are monitoring the situation on an hourly basis and informing the passengers in advance," a senior Air India official told IANS. 

"We have plans to bring in executive and reserve pilots to operate the flights. We also have plans to wet-lease at least four-five aircraft to operate on the affected routes," the official said. The airline has stopped bookings on some of its ultra long-haul routes till May 15, effectively cancelling more than 15 flights per day on major sectors like the US, Europe to the west, and other destinations like Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore to the east. 

These developments have come even as the airline said it is working on a contingency plan to salvage its international operations. "We are working on a plan. This involves operating a bare minimum number of flights on the international sector. This plan may come into effect from early next week," the official said.  Air India also has grounded the bulk of its 17-aircraft Boeing-777 fleet. 

The airline is losing an estimated Rs.10 crore for every day of the pilots' strike. Maintaining the grounded aircraft would further add to its expenditure. The airline has sacked 71 pilots in five days since the agitation began Tuesday and derecognised their union - the IPG. It has also asked aviation regulator Directorate General Of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to cancel the pilots' flying licenses. 

The trouble started for the airline Tuesday when pilots belonging to the IPG took mass sick leave protesting the airline's move to provide Boeing-787 Dreamliner conversion training to pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines. The airline has also moved petitions in the Supreme Court and the Delhi high court. The apex court will hear the petition along with special leave petition (SLP) filed earlier by the ICPA, the union of erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots.
Via: timesofindia.indiatimes