Air India steps in to help stranded Jet Airways passengers

New Delhi, Sep.8 (AN): India's international carrier Air India (AI) has come to the relief of Jet Airways passengers, after Jet had to cancel over 130 flights when 400 pilots failed to show up for work.

The AI management decided to offer its services to Jet Airways passengers.

Jet Airways has vowed to give passengers 'a full refund and said that passengers' can reissue or rebook flights without any penalty.

Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal met Civil Aviation Secretary Madhavan Nambiar on Tuesday morning for about half-an-hour and is understood to have discussed the situation.

While the National Aviators Guild (NAG) has decided not to go on the proposed strike, its members have decided on an alternate course of protest action like going on mass casual leave which has hampered the operations of the private carrier.

A large number of passengers, who had to take the flights operated by the private carrier, were accommodated in the flights of Air India and other carriers.

In a press statement issued by Jet Airways, the airlines said that the strike would be deemed as illegal as per the Industrial Disputes Act.

In the statement Jet has said that the Regional Labour Commissioner had categorically stated that any strike by pilots would be deemed illegal.

"This organised activity is a planned sabotage of operations that will damage the airline's operations and inconvenience the travelling public," the statement said.

The National Aviators Guild (NAG), the pilots union of Jet Airways, on Monday, had called off its proposed strike against the management's sacking of two senior pilots. "Jet Airways is taking all steps to minimise the inconvenience to its guests. The airline will make all efforts to operate the maximum number of flights," the statement said. However, we will try to accommodate our guests on alternate flights as some flights may have to be combined or cancelled, it added. (ANI)