Mumbai:
Faced with a strike threat from a section of pilots from April 2, Air India has claimed there will be no disruption in operations.
The airline came out with a statement on Sunday saying, "There is no threat of any strike from any of the registered unions of Air India employees and all its operations will be normal."
And in a breather to the debt-laden national carrier, its largest union, the Air Corporation Employees Union or ACEU, which has the backing of 12 associations and union of the airlines, issued a separate statement saying it has not given any strike notice of its members including ground staff, cabin crew and other categories and that the operations will be smooth.
The Air India management asked the protesting unions not to resort to any precipitative action in the present circumstances which may affect revenue and load especially in the coming summer peak season.
It also noted that its management met the unions and assured them that it would clear backlog of payments by May as soon as the budgetary support is received towards equity infusion from the government.
Some pilots owing allegiance to the Indian Commercial Pilots' association and a few trade unions had on March 22 after talks with the Air India management threatened to go on strike from April 2 if their dues were not cleared by April 1.
The strike call was given after three rounds of talks with the management failed to resolve the issues of Air India employees, who have not been paid their dues for the past five months.
The strike warning followed the demand of the unions for a written commitment from the management that it will clear the entire dues before April 1, union sources had told PTI.