'Talks only after pilots apologise, return to work'
With support from the government, Air India (AI) management on Saturday rejected a renewed offer for unconditional talks from the agitating pilots’ union. Instead, it stood firm on its stance that talks could be held only after the pilots returned to work.
With the agitation entering its fifth day, the airline had to cancel 15 of its 120 international daily flights today.
“What will they want to talk to me about? On the issue of Dreamliners, there is a Supreme Court order and the issue of career progression will be discussed when we start implementing the Justice Dharmadikari report. They should call off their agitation, report back to duty and apologise to passengers, who have been impacted due to the strike,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told Business Standard.
Singh added the pilots had hampered Air India’s growth trajectory and it would take a lot of time for the airline to recover from the impact.
The pilots, on the other hand, even as they made the offer for talks, did not hint at calling off their agitation.
“We are not asking the management to recognise the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) or take back sacked pilots. We are willing to talk without any pre-condition,” said IPG Spokesperson Tauseef Mukadam.
The pilots also said that they were willing to take a hundred steps backwards, but for that the management should take at least one step forward.
The 550-member IPG started its agitation after the airline allowed the erstwhile Indian Airlines’ pilots to fly the new Dreamliner planes. IPG, which represents pilots of Air India before it was merged with Indian Airlines (IA), objected to this because, it says, it wants its members’ career progression and time-bound promotions to be in sync with those of pilots from the erstwhile IA. While the pilots from the erstwhile IA got a commander’s grade in six years, it took 10 years for those of the erstwhile AI.
The management, on its part, has acted tough on the agitators right since the first day of the stir. It had approached the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to cancel flying licences of 10 functionaries of the striking union and sacked 71 pilots for not reporting to duty. The airline — which has lost Rs 60 crore in revenue and has had to spend Rs 25 crore more in providing accommodation and other facilities to stranded passengers — has said that the pilots’ strike is illegal and talks can happen only after they call it off. The carrier has also prepared a contingency plan that will take effect from Monday. It will include wet leasing four aircraft (which come with pilots and crew) and cut the number of flights to Europe and the US from 32 to 14 a day.