Impasse between Jet pilots, mgmt continue

Conciliation talks between Jet Airways pilots and the management to end the four-day pilots' stir remained deadlocked tonight, as the government expected a solution to the crisis "within the next 48 hours".

The marathon nine-hour talks before the Chief Labour Commissioner here where the pilots and the management representatives came face to face for the first time since the stir started on Tuesday were inconclusive.

Further talks where only the two sides will be present will resume in Mumbai tomorrow, according to Capt Girish Kaushik, the president of the pilots' body National Aviators Guild (NAG) leading the stir. Kaushik said the pilots will not resume work "as of now" and the stir will continue but was hopeful of a solution tomorrow.

A solution to end the stir which has severely disrupted flights affecting thousands of passengers was widely expected on the first day of conciliation talks today especially after the two sides were reported to have worked out a broad understanding last night to break the impasse.

Sources said the talks saw a lot of hard bargaining by the two sides especially over issues which have a larger impact on the employees of the private airline.

Labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge raised prospects of an early end to the stir saying he was confident of a solution and was expecting it "within 48 hours".

Besides Chief Labour Commissioner S K Upadhyay, the conciliation proceedings were attended by Jet Executive Director Saroj Dutta, CEO Hafiz Ali and head of operations Capt Mohan. The NAG was also represented by Capt Sam Thomas and Capt.Balraman.

Kaushik said the Jet management has agreed to take back the four sacked pilots but Datta said everything is under discussion. "The talks itself are inconclusive," Dutta said.