Agencies/New Delhi

Air India pilots participate in a demonstration in New Delhi on the 30th day of their strike yesterday. Over 200 pilots went on strike last month over former Indian Airlines pilots, who moved to Air India when the domestic and international carriers merged in 2007, being trained for new Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said yesterday new pilots will be hired to take over from the striking pilots of the national carrier Air India.
However, the striking pilots said they will not end their protest until a bare minimum of their demands are met.
The minister also announced that the first international flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane would be in August from Mumbai to London.
More than 200 pilots have been on strike for 30 days in a dispute over training to fly the Dreamliner.
The airline has sacked 100 pilots since the start of the strike.
“Air India has decided to recruit pilots from domestic and international markets. We expect to advertise for the posts soon,” Singh said.
According to an official, the airline will put out advertisements for a walk-in-interview for pilots with specific skill set.
“We will like to hire more co-pilots, as we already have a pool of well qualified executive pilots. The process of wage negotiation, clearances from the regulator will take nearly three months, but by that time we will already have a robust manpower,” the official said.
Airline industry experts feel it will take nearly five to six months for Air India to fully resume operations on its 27 international destinations.
The airline currently plans to hire nearly 90-100 pilots on contractual basis that ranges from one to three years.
Hiring of new pilots may also reduce the salary burden faced by the airline, as under contractual terms the pay packages and perks will be negotiable.
Singh said the striking pilots were welcome to return but “they have decided not to come back and have ruled themselves out.”
The new recruits would join the 90 pilots who were being trained to fly the Dreamliner and they would be ready to fly within the next six months, Singh told a press conference.
“The strike is over as far as we are concerned,” he said.
However, the striking pilots refused to budge.
“We are in it for a long haul. This is our airline too. We have now placed only two demands... recognition of our unions and reinstatement of 101 sacked pilots... After that we are ready to join back and hold discussions with the government,” Rohit Kapahi, committee member of Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), said.
The national carrier has seen its fortunes dwindle in recent years despite merging with Indian Airlines in 2007
Air India’s debt levels have been steadily rising raising concerns about its future.
Rising fuel costs and increased competition has meant heavy losses.
In April, authorities approved a debt restructuring plan and said they would inject Rs300bn ($5.9bn) into it by 2020.
The minister said that the sacked pilots would have to reapply for their jobs if they wanted to come back and it was up to Air India management to decide if they wanted to sack more of the striking pilots.
Analysts say the minister’s comments show that the government’s stand against the striking pilots has toughened and the authorities are in no mood to give in to their demands.
“We earlier asked them to come back and said no one will be victimised. We had even given a chance to the sacked pilots that they can also come back and we will take them back on a case-by-case basis. But after the process starts, either they have to come back or apply afresh,” an official said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of pilots marched through the streets of New Delhi and Mumbai yesterday to press for their demands.
The pilots have consistently refused to return to duty despite the Delhi High Court ruling the strike “illegal” and ordering the pilots to go back to work.
Airline  to receive first Dreamliners this month
Air India will take delivery of its first Boeing Dreamliner aircraft later this month after the two firms agreed compensation for delays, the government said yesterday. Air India was supposed to receive the first of 27 Dreamliners by the end of May after years of delays that have added to the woes of the airline amid strikes and mounting debts. “The board has accepted the payment proposal offered by the company,” Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told reporters without revealing details of the compensation deal with Boeing. Two years ago Air India told parliament it wanted compensation of $710mn for the delays, while Boeing had offered $145mn. Indian officials have since said the sum sought by the airline may increase to near $1bn. Air India is struggling for survival with over 300 pilots on strike and losses of nearly $2mn a day.