New Delhi:
The strike by a section of Air India employees has been called off after two days of flights being cancelled and thousands of passengers being stranded across the country in the peak summer travel season. Sources said 15 employees have been sacked while 13 suspended, adding there are more terminations to follow.
The dismissed employees can now be taken back only by the Air India Board of Directors, sources added.
The strike was called off after the Delhi High Court passed an restraining order which effectively meant that all striking employees would have to go back to work immediately or their services could be terminated. The court had imposed a stay on the ongoing strike and also on the strike that they planned from May 31.
The High Court issued the stay order after the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) moved a petition challenging the strike by the Air India employees.
The Air India union later said an understanding has been reached and they are back at work.
Hours after the employees called off the strike, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel called the flash strike "unpardonable" and "inappropriate" as it came immediately after the tragic Mangalore air crash. (Watch: Air India's image hit by the strike: Praful to NDTV)
Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav said that strikes have been happening every two months and the airline needs to fix accountability. He added that it will take two-three days for operations to normalise. (Watch: Need to fix responsibilities: Air India chief to NDTV)
The court order came after a day of hectic meetings where according to sources, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister made it clear to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel that they would completely back the Ministry and the management. Patel carried that message and endorsed stern action.
Also, the government supported a crackdown on unions, which meant that striking employees could be sacked. In fact this time, unlike the last strike, government was even willing to suspend operations if necessary.
An estimated 20,000 engineers and ground staff or about 60 per cent of the staff strength were on strike, according to unions.
According to Air India officials, the airline has lost about Rs 12.5 crore in the past one-and-a-half weeks while the strike has severely affected 13,000 passengers, most of whom remained stranded.
The airline management had earlier in the day moved Mumbai High Court challenging the flash strike.
On Day 2 of the strike, 89 flights in both the domestic and international sectors had been cancelled by evening. These included 24 flights from Delhi, 37 from Mumbai, six from Kolkata, 13 from Chennai, three from Patna, one each from Jaipur and Ahmedabad, and two each from Bangalore and Hyderabad. (Read: Air India cancels 89 flights)
Thousands of passengers were stranded as a result of the flight cancellations on Tuesday and Wednesday, as this is the peak summer travel season and there are some destinations to which only Air India flies.
The national carrier had to make arrangements with private airlines like Jet Airways and Kingfisher to carry passengers while the strike continued.
The striking employees claim the problem began after the Mangalore crash when the Air India management issued a notice to its engineers for speaking to the media. (Read: Story behind Air India's strike, as told by engineers)
The employees allege that Air India's failure is that it didn't use its engineers to certify a flight while ferrying passengers to Mangalore after the tragedy.
(With PTI inputs)
The dismissed employees can now be taken back only by the Air India Board of Directors, sources added.
The strike was called off after the Delhi High Court passed an restraining order which effectively meant that all striking employees would have to go back to work immediately or their services could be terminated. The court had imposed a stay on the ongoing strike and also on the strike that they planned from May 31.
The High Court issued the stay order after the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) moved a petition challenging the strike by the Air India employees.
The Air India union later said an understanding has been reached and they are back at work.
Hours after the employees called off the strike, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel called the flash strike "unpardonable" and "inappropriate" as it came immediately after the tragic Mangalore air crash. (Watch: Air India's image hit by the strike: Praful to NDTV)
Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav said that strikes have been happening every two months and the airline needs to fix accountability. He added that it will take two-three days for operations to normalise. (Watch: Need to fix responsibilities: Air India chief to NDTV)
The court order came after a day of hectic meetings where according to sources, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister made it clear to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel that they would completely back the Ministry and the management. Patel carried that message and endorsed stern action.
Also, the government supported a crackdown on unions, which meant that striking employees could be sacked. In fact this time, unlike the last strike, government was even willing to suspend operations if necessary.
An estimated 20,000 engineers and ground staff or about 60 per cent of the staff strength were on strike, according to unions.
According to Air India officials, the airline has lost about Rs 12.5 crore in the past one-and-a-half weeks while the strike has severely affected 13,000 passengers, most of whom remained stranded.
The airline management had earlier in the day moved Mumbai High Court challenging the flash strike.
On Day 2 of the strike, 89 flights in both the domestic and international sectors had been cancelled by evening. These included 24 flights from Delhi, 37 from Mumbai, six from Kolkata, 13 from Chennai, three from Patna, one each from Jaipur and Ahmedabad, and two each from Bangalore and Hyderabad. (Read: Air India cancels 89 flights)
Thousands of passengers were stranded as a result of the flight cancellations on Tuesday and Wednesday, as this is the peak summer travel season and there are some destinations to which only Air India flies.
The national carrier had to make arrangements with private airlines like Jet Airways and Kingfisher to carry passengers while the strike continued.
The striking employees claim the problem began after the Mangalore crash when the Air India management issued a notice to its engineers for speaking to the media. (Read: Story behind Air India's strike, as told by engineers)
The employees allege that Air India's failure is that it didn't use its engineers to certify a flight while ferrying passengers to Mangalore after the tragedy.
(With PTI inputs)
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