'Let's forget and forgive to resume work', says Jet Airways

Mumbai, Sep.13 (ANI): With the Jet Airways management and striking pilots bringing the five-day impasse to an 'amicable' end late on Saturday night, the airlines has decided to resume its services with a fresh mind.

The Jet Airways management on Sunday said that all pilots would report back on duty with immediate effect and it's a time to forget and forgive what had transpired in the last five days.

The management also confirmed that all efforts to restore normalcy were on.

The Jet Airlines management expressed its thanks to the Government, the Civil Aviation Ministry, Labour Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for their cooperation during a difficult time.

Addressing media persons in Mumbai, Jet Airways' Executive Director Saroj Dutta said: "Strike is over, our services about to be normalised by tomorrow (Sunday), pilots will report to duty gradually, the sick pilots will follow the procedure to join work. A consultative body has been set up including five representative from the management side, two board of directors, Chief Executive Officer, and two representatives of the flight operation department and five representatives from the pilots' side, they will meet regularly, consult and decide," said Dutta.

" We convey our deepest apologies to the airline's customers, who have suffered a lot since September 8. We would also like to thank the government, the civil aviation ministry, labour ministry and the DGCA for their support," he added.

"The management and representative of the pilots discussed the issues. The pilots were anxious that an agreement be arrived at so that this undesirable situation would be brought to an end. At the meeting, we addressed and discussed the issue of primary concern, which was the lack of a system that could bring the management and pilots together at one platform. The management has come up with a consultative body which will include two Directors, two representative from flight operations from the management side and five representatives from the pilots side. The body will identify the issues faced and bring it up to the consultative body, where they will work together to ensure issues get resolved," Dutta added.

Meanwhile, National Aviators Guild (NAG), a Jet Airways pilots' union representing the carrier's 760 pilots said the formation of the consultative body would not undermine the role of the NAG (National Aviators Guild).

" We have put in to get into a amicable settlement and I do not think there has been a climb down or victory," said Sam Thomas, one of the sacked pilots of the Jet Airways and also the General Secretary of the NAG.

The management said that the need for forming this body was to ensure that there is a continuous dialogue process between the management and the pilots.

It also informed that once the pilots report to duty, they would withdraw the petition from the High Court and no action would be taken against the pilots.

President of National Aviators Guild (NAG), Captain Girish Kaushik said that the entire Jet family is back together, but also added that their body remains intact and would follow the law of the land.

Kaushik thanked Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal for his generosity in clearing the differences and apologised to all passengers who had to suffer inconvenience due to the stir.

"The last few days have been unfortunate and we would apologise to all the passengers. The management have completed all our demands and have got the terminated pilots back on the roster. We at NAG have worked very hard and have managed to get ourselves registered legally. We will remain intact and expect the law of the land to take its own course. But I am happy that we are back together as one family."

Over 400 pilots, who reported "sick" for the last five days, decided to resume their duties after a nine-hour-long meeting with the airlines management in Mumbai on Saturday night. .

It was decided during the marathon meeting, which lasted till around 2.30 a.m., the four sacked pilots would be reinstated and a consultative group set up of the two sides to resolve all issues. (ANI)