10/05/2012 - Myclipp

The Economic Times/ - News, Sáb, 12 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
We want to save Air India, ready for
unconditional talks with government:
Pilots
NEW DELHI /MUMBAI: The agitating pilots of Air India
on Saturday said they are willing to hold unconditional
talks with the government to end the impasse caused
by their five-day strike, but claimed the management is
not keen to listen to their demands.
"We have written to them (management) several times
in the past, letting them know of our demands. We are
very willing to hold talks, discussions with the
government, with the management. We also want to
save Air India," said Jitendra Awhad, president of
Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG).
"We have not put any pre-conditions for holding talks.
But we are saddened over the fact that the
government, the management can hold talks, make
deals with the agitators from the other union (Indian
Commercial Pilots Association) when they went on
strike three months ago, but can't do the same with
us," said Awhad.
The agitating pilots have also approached Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention on
demands which are deemed by senior members of the
protesting aviators' community as "genuine."
Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh had earlier said that
the pilots first need to come back and join work before
any talks with them could be started.
"If they want to talk, they should come to work, and all
issues can be discussed... We are going to take a
long-term view," Ajit Singh had said.
Singh on Friday also informed the PM about the efforts
that are being made to resolve the crisis.
The pilots' protest continued for the fifth consecutive
day on Saturday, forcing the management to cancel 14
flights and re-scheduling many others. The carrier's
low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, also cancelled
six flights.
"Fourteen flights have been cancelled and some may
be rescheduled on domestic routes. We are monitoring
the situation on an hourly basis and informing the
passengers in advance," a senior Air India official told
IANS.
"We have plans to bring in executive and reserve pilots
to operate the flights. We also have plans to wet-lease
at least four-five aircraft to operate on the affected
routes," the official said.
The airline has stopped bookings on some of its ultra
long-haul routes till May 15, effectively cancelling more
than 15 flights per day on major sectors like the US,
Europe to the west, and other destinations like
Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore to the east.
These developments have come even as the airline
said it is working on a contingency plan to salvage its
international operations.
"We are working on a plan. This involves operating a
bare minimum number of flights on the international
sector. This plan may come into effect from early next
week," the official said.
Air India also has grounded the bulk of its 17-aircraft
Boeing-777 fleet.
The airline is losing an estimated Rs.10 crore for every
day of the pilots' strike. Maintaining the grounded
aircraft would further add to its expenditure.
The airline has sacked 71 pilots in five days since the
agitation began Tuesday and derecognised their union
- the IPG. It has also asked aviation regulator
Directorate General Of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) to
cancel the pilots' flying licenses.
The trouble started for the airline Tuesday when pilots
belonging to the IPG took mass sick leave protesting
the airline's move to provide Boeing-787 Dreamliner
conversion training to pilots from the erstwhile Indian
Airlines.
The airline has also moved petitions in the Supreme
Court and the Delhi high court. The apex court will
hear the petition along with special leave petition (SLP)
filed earlier by the ICPA, the union of erstwhile Indian
Airlines pilots.
150