New Delhi:
Continuing its crackdown on striking pilots who have refused to return to work, Air India management has sacked two more of them. The total of number of pilots who have been fired has gone up to nine now; six others have been suspended.
As the strike by 800 pilots entered its fourth day today, 90 per cent of Air India's flights have been cancelled. Air India has declared losses of Rs. 26.5 crore so far because of the strike. It now stares at the possibility of a partial lockout. The airline's Chairman Arvind Jadhav met the Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi yesterday to consider options and is believed to be regularly briefing the government.
The management had said on Friday that pilots who didn't report to work by 5 pm would be fired. The Delhi High Court also formally initiated contempt of court proceedings against the pilots for ignoring its orders to end their strike. If found guilty on Monday, the pilots could be asked to spend six months in jail. But even warnings of potential jail time could not persuade the striking pilots to return to work.
At the heart of the battle is the issue of how much pilots are paid. "We are more than willing to go to jail. Nearly 31,000 Air India employees will also be ready to court arrest because we are serious about saving the national carrier from ruin," Rishabh Kapur, the General Secretary of Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA). The union was derecognised on Monday by the airline's management.
The management has said it may invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) in the next few days. The pilots, on the other hand, want a CBI probe into the "massive corruption" in the airline under the leadership of Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jadhav.
"We are willing to get back to work provided the government assures that they will look into the corruption issue raised by us and order a CBI enquiry," Mr Kapur said.
The management of the airline declared on Thursday that no bookings for domestic flights would be taken till May 3 - an ominous sign as both pilots and the management fail to find common ground. Other airlines are cashing in by hiking their fares - adding a new dimension to passengers' nightmares.
The airline tried to compensate by co-opting flights from its cheaper strain - Air India Express - to take passengers from Kerala to the Gulf on Friday morning. It's also operating larger planes on main routes like Delhi and Mumbai.
In 2007, the government merged Air India with Indian Airlines, assuming it would lead to a more cost-efficient national carrier. The desired results are nowhere on the horizon, despite 2000 crore rupees being infused into operations.
The pilots on strike were all originally hired by Indian Airlines; they say that four years after the merger, they are still paid significantly less than the pilots who joined them from Air India. Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi is not moved by their plight. He said 1600 pilots make 800 crore rupees. "Many of them are plus two, not even graduates, and they are getting Rs. 3.8 lakh a month... I hope sense will prevail upon these people. Are they starving?'' he added.
Executive pilots - who handle administrative jobs - and had been asked by the management to fill in for those on strike have begun calling in sick - a thinly-veiled gesture of support for the ICPA.