Jet pilots call off strike, flights to resume

Mumbai: The Jet impasse ended a little before midnight on Saturday, after five days of chaos caused by over 400 pilots staying away from work forcing the airline to cancel hundreds of flights and leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

The end to the pilots' stir came after protracted negotiations, demands and counter-demands.

Addressing the media after taking the decision to call off the strike, the pilots' representative Girish Kaushik said that the disputes had been solved and the pilots would return to work.

"An amicable settlement has been reached. It was like a misunderstanding in a family," he said.

Jet Airways issued a press statement after the stalemate was resolved. According to the statement, all domestic as well as international flights would start operations on Sunday.

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The domestic flights are expected to begin operations by Sunday afternoon while international flights are expected to resume immediately.

Asked about losses suffered by the airline during the five days of the agitation, Jet has said that no estimates have been done as yet. However, Jet's daily revenue of eight million dollars "had dropped dramatically" and the number of passengers came down from 23,000 per day to 7,500

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Earlier, sources told NDTV that a coordination committee is likely to replace the Jet pilots' union.

The Jet management has also decided to take back the four pilots who were sacked.

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On Saturday, the Jet management had met with the striking pilots' body in Mumbai.

Jet Executive Director Saroj Datta and Vice President K Mohan met the pilots to resolve the deadlock. (With PTI inputs)