AI pilots get set to return to work as strike ends

Agencies/New Delhi

Members of the Indian Pilots’ Guild address a press conference to announce the end of their strike in New Delhi yesterday

Hundreds of Air India pilots were yesterday preparing to return to work after they ended a 58-day strike following a court order.Tauseef Mukadam, a spokesman for the Indian Pilots’ Guild which represents Air India’s striking pilots, said that the group would follow the instructions of the Delhi High Court.About a third of the airline’s 1,500 pilots were on strike. Their absence led to dozens of cancelled flights for the beleaguered state-owned carrier.The pilots went on strike demanding exclusive rights to fly new Boeing Dreamliners and that colleagues from the former Indian Airlines not be trained to fly the new aircraft because they worried it could hurt their career prospects.The Air India strike added to the chaos in an industry where the one-time No2 carrier by domestic market share, Kingfisher Airlines, has slashed its operating fleet to 18 from 64 and has not paid staff since January.The strike also forced Air India to cut back on its international schedule and combine flights, which further strengthened the hold on international routes by market leader Jet Airways.“We, the pilots of Air India and members of the Indian Pilots Guild, on the intervention of Honourable Justice Ms Reva Khetrapal of the Honourable Delhi High Court have started the procedure to resume work,” the IPG said in a statement late Tuesday.The court order on Tuesday said the carrier should be sympathetic to the pilots’ grievances.Mukadam said the judge also asked Air India to work towards reinstating 100 pilots who had been fired during the strike.It was not immediately clear when normal flight schedules would resume.Mukadam said the striking pilots would first inform the court that they were ready to return to work and then complete the paperwork needed. The pilots haven’t flown for two months so they must also undergo fresh medical examinations and refresher training classes.Aviation Minister Ajit Singh earlier said the strike was illegal and the government will not enter into discussions with pilots until they report to work.Indian carriers are reeling under a combined debt load of $20bn and annual losses of $2bn, with a weak rupee adding to their already-hefty fuel costs. All but one of India’s six big airlines loses money with privately held IndiGo the sole money maker.Air India, still flying thanks to a much-criticised $5.8bn government bailout, accounts for most of those losses, according to Centre For Asia Pacific Aviation.The debt-laden carrier risked losing its bailout funds if the strike continued because the package is linked to meeting certain performance-based milestones.Critics of ongoing government support for Air India argue the support enables it to charge below-cost fares, forcing competitors to do the same and subsidises a bloated workforce that at 218 staff per plane is nearly double that of Jet Airways’ 116.Air India and its domestic counterpart, Indian Airlines, were combined in 2007 in a merger beset with integration problems, most related to human resource issues. The combined carrier under the Air India brand has never made a profit.Air India is expected to receive the first of its 27 Dreamliners soon, although the government has been wrangling with Boeing over compensation for delayed deliveries.The purchase of Dreamliners was criticised by a federal auditor last year for “imposing an undue long-term financial burden.”