New Delhi:
The nine-day strike by Air India's pilots has cost taxpayers 146.5 crores so far. The national airlines is now reduced to operating just 10 per cent of its domestic flights.
Against that stark landscape, the management today ordered the 800 pilots on strike to get back to work without any preconditions.
What the pilots have been insisting upon before ending their strike is that the airline re-hire the nine pilots who were sacked since April 27. Most of them are dismissed office-bearers of the union of pilots that is on strike. Last week, the management de-recognised that union - the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA).
During talks today, the management said pilots who wish to be re-hired must formally petition the airline. Pilots were also asked to guarantee that they will not go on another strike till a committee that's examining Human Resources issues like salaries presents its conclusions.
The main reason for the strike by the ICPA is that its members want their salaries at par with a higher-paid group that flies for the airline. While members of the ICPA are paid largely for how many hours they fly, others enjoy a fixed salary.
Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi had last week said that the pilots were already paid handsomely - 800 crores for 1600 pilots was the math he shared. Enough to knock the wind out of any taxpayer.
Last evening, pilots met with senior officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry and the talks helped push both sides towards a reconciliation.
But just in case the breakthrough is not accomplished, the management has a Plan B and it hinges on wet-leasing aircraft from private airlines, along with their crew. These three-month leases come with easy exit clauses. Airbus and Boeing planes will be rented for about $2800 an hour and will allow Air India to transport an extra 18,000 passengers a day.
(Watch - Pilots' strike: Air India's Plan B)Till the wet-leases are signed, Air India will continue to rent - at 5000 dollars an hour - planes from Kingfisher and Air Arabia.
There are meanwhile 60 Air India planes that are grounded because it's hard to find pilots trained to fly these particular aircraft.
The management is also considering hiring foreign pilots to step in for those on strike. Clearances for these take about a month. Till that's organized, Air India may transfer planes from its least-popular international routes to the domestic routes that have been hit by the strike.
Many say Plan B is designed mainly to intimidate the pilots on strike to get back to work. In the meantime, there are certain routes in India that are handled only by Air India. Passengers along those routes are desperate for good news. As are taxpayers who're watching their money disappear without a trace.