Air India planes parked at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Monday, as the pilots' strike entered its third day. (AP)
New Delhi:
Striking a conciliatory note Aviation Ministry on Monday night intervened on the Air India crisis.
Air India has rubbished reports of a possible lockout, the airlines' Chief Managing Director Arvind Jadhav told NDTV that there is no possibility of a lockout.
Jadhav denied earlier reports that the airline was considering suspending all operations starting Monday midnight.
The national carrier is still gauging how many flights it can still operate, Jadhav said.
Jadhav to NDTV:
The Prime Minister meanwhile spoke to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. All Air India flights could be canceled Monday midnight onwards for at least 15 days. Information is still coming in but it's almost as though the airline is going in for a major clean up.
SMS-es are being sent to passengers to keep them updated on flight disruptions, if any. The toll-free number for more information is 18001801707.
In order to minimize chaos, the government is meeting representatives of all airlines on Tuesday to ask them to accommodate Air India passengers. At least 15 flights were cancelled on Monday.
The aim seems to be to shut down for 15 days at least, implement all the pay cuts and cost cutting measures and only after it is a little more cost efficient, re-open the airline.
Pilots are going to be de-rostered which means they will not be scheduled to fly and all those who are leading the trouble like captain Bhalla are likely to be sacked.
Air India points out that it is struggling with a 7000-crore loss. To reduce its expenditure, it has to resort to serious cost-cutting. That includes reducing 400 crores on its manpower. Towards that, the airline has scrapped allowances for a hundred executive pilots who are not unionised. Those pilots say this will hit their salaries by as much as 50 per cent.
This could be the last chance for an airline that many say is dying, a last chance for it to make some major changes and return to its once great reputation.
Air India has rubbished reports of a possible lockout, the airlines' Chief Managing Director Arvind Jadhav told NDTV that there is no possibility of a lockout.
Jadhav denied earlier reports that the airline was considering suspending all operations starting Monday midnight.
The national carrier is still gauging how many flights it can still operate, Jadhav said.
Jadhav to NDTV:
- We are denying the possibility of any lockout
- Assessing the resources we have at hand
- Assessing how many flights we can operate
- Trying to ensure passengers are not inconvenienced
The Prime Minister meanwhile spoke to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. All Air India flights could be canceled Monday midnight onwards for at least 15 days. Information is still coming in but it's almost as though the airline is going in for a major clean up.
SMS-es are being sent to passengers to keep them updated on flight disruptions, if any. The toll-free number for more information is 18001801707.
In order to minimize chaos, the government is meeting representatives of all airlines on Tuesday to ask them to accommodate Air India passengers. At least 15 flights were cancelled on Monday.
The aim seems to be to shut down for 15 days at least, implement all the pay cuts and cost cutting measures and only after it is a little more cost efficient, re-open the airline.
Pilots are going to be de-rostered which means they will not be scheduled to fly and all those who are leading the trouble like captain Bhalla are likely to be sacked.
Air India points out that it is struggling with a 7000-crore loss. To reduce its expenditure, it has to resort to serious cost-cutting. That includes reducing 400 crores on its manpower. Towards that, the airline has scrapped allowances for a hundred executive pilots who are not unionised. Those pilots say this will hit their salaries by as much as 50 per cent.
This could be the last chance for an airline that many say is dying, a last chance for it to make some major changes and return to its once great reputation.
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