Govt takes tough stand against striking Air India pilots; HC asks pilots to call off strike
The Delhi High Court has asked Air India pilots to call off their strike and return to work in larger public interest. Acting on a petition filed by Air India management against the strike, Justice Gita Mittal also barred the striking pilots from resorting to any kind of demonstration.
The High Court also took the Air India management to task for delaying decisions on the demands raised by the agitators. The
Indian Commercial Pilots Association, ICPA, which is spearheading the stir, said they are consulting their lawyers following the court order and will take a final decision by Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, Air India management has sacked six ICPA leaders including President Capt A S Bhinder and General Secretary Capt Rishabh Kapur.
The management has also derecognised the union and sealed their offices across the country.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said the management's action against striking leaders is fully justified and asserted that ICPA's demands of pay parity cannot be accepted.
Describing the strike as most irresponsible, Mr Ravi said, nobody can dictate terms to government, especially a few pilots.
At least 40 Air India flights were cancelled till late last night on the first day of the strike by its pilots causing enormous hardship to thousands of travellers.
The affected flights were on the Delhi-Mumbai sector and those to Kathmandu, Bangkok, Raipur, Aurangabad, Srinagar, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Leh.
Passengers at Mumbai airport continued to face inconvenience as around 16 flights from Mumbai were cancelled on Thursday.
Meanwhile, efforts are on by the Air India management to minimise the impact on the scheduled operations. A section of Air India pilots belonging to Indian Commercial Pilot’s Association went on strike from Tuesday midnight to press their various demands.
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