Air India to come to a decision on pilots' dues on Monday; pilots threaten to strike again if demands are not met
Air India to come to a decision on pilots' dues on Monday; pilots threaten to strike again if demands are not met
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On November 9, Air India (AI) officials will make an announcement that may end the airline's internal dispute with the pilots. Jitender Bhargava, executive director, AI, says, "It is better to ask them what the problem is and why they are threatening to go on strike all the time when the company is trying to help them."
Although AI staff don't sound optimistic. A senior AI pilot on condition of anonymity says, "Why is the company not coming in for a discussion with us? The management is responsible for all the drama. Our demands are genuine. We don't have faith in Air India and in an official like Bhargava who changes his statement every minute. If the company will not look into the demands, we will go on strike from November 10."
Captain VK Bhalla, former senior executive pilot with Air India agrees that the management is digressing from the real issues and unwilling to look into "the genuine demands pertaining to the allowances due," which may compel the pilots to go on strike again.
September 2009: Nearly 400 AI pilots called in sick. The real reason being non-payment of their productivity-linked incentives leading to cancellation of over 300 flights
October 30: AI decided to pay allowances for a month but the pilots demanded that all dues be cleared
Air India has more than 1200 pilots operating 300 departures, which may adversely affect the situation again if the pilots decide to strike
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