Over 150 domestic and overseas Jet Airways flights were cancelled after more than 400 pilots failed to report for work on the second day today, leaving passengers stranded, even as the airline warned of stringent action if the cockpit crew did not call off the agitation.
As the stir continued, Jet chief Naresh Goyal met Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in Delhi and briefed him about the situation. Both Goyal and Patel declined to take queries from reporters after their hour-long discussion.
The Minister is understood to have conveyed to Goyal to take steps urgently to end the agitation.
As many as 153 flights, including 19 international, have been cancelled across the country as 432 out of 1056 pilots did not report for work today, a company spokesperson said in Mumbai. The total number of pilots includes 160 expats.
Earlier, Goyal warned that the airlines will be left with no option but to "sack more" if the agitators did not follow the company rules and procedures.
He made it clear that the company did not recognise the National Aviators Guild (NAG), spearheading the stir to demand reinstatement of some pilots who were sacked for forming the NAG, which claims a membership of 680.
Most of the morning flights of Jet were cancelled except those to Europe, the UK, North America and Singapore, airport sources said in Mumbai and Delhi.
