AI Pilots Strike: 60 Flights Cancelled

Flyers today bore the brunt of the strike by Air India pilots with some complaining that they were not informed about the status of their flights and some coming to know about the cancelled flights only after reaching the airport.Air India cancelled 60 flights this morning leaving many flyers stranded."Me and my family had to attend a marriage in Srinagar today and we had booked our tickets about a month ago, but now our plans are ruined as Air India has cancelled the flight and they don't have the courtesy to inform us before hand," said Mohammed Sahil Sheikh,

The Air India pilots strike and with 60 flights cancelled since Wednesday and Thursday morning, it is the passengers who are bearing the brunt.Showing solidarity with the striking pilots 32 executive Air India pilots reported sick to work in Mumbai on Thursday. The Delhi High Court though has stayed the flash strike and has ordered the pilots to resume work. There has also been a warning from the Civil Aviation Minister Vyalar Ravi and he has assured normal services will resume soon.Six pilots have already been sacked and two have been suspended.

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) too has been derecognised but still there has be no change of stance from the pilots. Passengers faced the worst brunt of the tussle between the 650 pilots of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association and the airline management. Several flights were cancelled or delayed leaving hundreds of passengers stranded and misinformed.The pilots are demanding the ouster of Air India Chairman Arvind Jadhav and a fixed pay salary. As of now, they get paid according to the number of hours they fly. But with route cancellations after the Air India-Indian Airlines merger, they claim they get just 60 per cent of their salaries.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed the flash strike by 600 pilots of Air India, who were co-opted from erstwhile Indian Airlines, but not before slamming the management for not addressing their demands for some two decades.The court's decision came even as nearly 50 flights, mainly out of the national capital and Mumbai, had to be cancelled and an equal number rescheduled due to the strike since Tuesday midnight, causing inconvenience to thousands of air travellers in the country.