National carrier Air India has sacked 10 more pilots who went on mass sick leave that led to
several flight cancellations on Wednesday, even as the Delhi High Court stepped in to normalise operations by
restraining pilots from going on strike.
"We have sacked 10 more pilots. We are ready for talks, negotiations but we will also not tolerate this kind of illegal action which will permanently hurt the airline's image," a senior Air India official told
IANS.
The flag carrier had sacked 10 pilots on Tuesday too, along with derecognising their union - Indian Pilots Guild (IPG).
The
Delhi High Court attempted to restore operations and issued restraining orders on pilots from going on strike. The flag carrier had moved the court against the agitating pilots.
ALSO SEE: Air India shutdown an option: Ajit SinghTrouble started when pilots belonging to IPG, of pre-merger Air India pilots, went on a mass 'sick' leave protesting the move by the airline to provide
Boeing-787 Dreamliner training to pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines.
The stir caused four international flight cancellations each on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday, the airline had to cancel three international flights from Delhi and one from Mumbai.
Sources in the pilots union claimed the
disgruntled aviators had reached out to the chief labour commissioner's (CLC) office. The IPG is likely to discuss the issue and the sacking of its senior pilots at a meeting later Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the government expressed readiness to talk to agitating Air India pilots, but warned that if they resorted to such actions repeatedly, no public money would be infused in the ailing carrier for its revival.
ALSO SEE: Air India gets first Dreamliner from South Carolina"If you have grievances, we can talk, (but) discussions and disruptions cannot take place simultaneously. They should withdraw strike and apologise to passengers,"
Civil Aviation Minister of India Ajit Singh told reporters outside the Parliament House as the strike by Air India pilots entered the second day.
Admitting that pilots are most important group in any airlines and could even shut down carriers if they want, Singh said pilots should understand their responsibilites as well.
"Air India is almost bankrupt. (It) is not able to pay salaries for months, not paid to airport authority and oil marketing companies," he said, adding the government is trying to
revive Air India by infusing Rs 30,000 crore of "public money" over a period of time, but there are strings attached.
ALSO SEE: Boeing Dreamliners are worth the wait He further said that Justice Dharmadhikari panel report, on integration of workforce of erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines including promotions, would be discussed in a month or two and pilots would be actively involved.
As the report would be implemented, Singh said many more questions would come up and "if you keep striking on such issues every three months, then we are not ready to invest public money in Air India".
The minister also said the government has "a back-up plan (to deal with strike)...We can downsize...If employees are not interested that Air India should expand, then government is not going to provide money to it."
With inputs from agencies
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