Mumbai:
Air India's unwell pilots are apparently still not feeling better.
On Day 3 of strike called by senior pilots, more than 15 flights have been cancelled, most of them from Delhi. To minimize chaos, Air India is sending SMS-es on schedule changes. Passengers are also requested to call this toll-free number for more information:
18001801707.Close to a 100 Air India pilots have been calling in sick since Friday night to protest against a new rule that cuts their pay by upto 50%. The pilots affected by the new salary cuts are not unionized. On Sunday, the management offered an olive branch to the pilots by set up a committee to look into this. Not good enough for the pilots. They say they won't start flying till the pay cuts are reversed. The management says it will not negotiate with any pilots who continue to call in sick, most of whom are from Delhi. So the Management has been in talks with pilots from Mumbai, who have not participated in the strike so far.
That strategy of talking separately to different groups of pilots seems to be working. 20 pilots from Chennai have been persuaded to start flying again. Now, the management is trying to persuade pilots in Kolkata to follow suit.
Air India has been under huge pressure to cut its costs. The airline points out that in the last financial year, it declared losses of more than 5000 crores. Everyday, it owes 4.7 crores in interest alone.
There are reports that the government will meet with representatives from all airlines in Delhi on Monday to ask them not to use the Air India crisis to profit in any way.