Striking AI pilots blink; 10-day impasse ends

New Delhi, May 7: The Air India pilots have finally decided to call of the strike that crippled air travel after a meeting with the government, the Air India management and the pilots. The 10 day impasse saw close to Rs 150 crores in damages. The grounding of 90 percent of flights spelling bad news for holiday goers and making summer travel plans going haywire. The decision was made late on Friday night.

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (IPCA) after negotiations stated that, the striking and subsequently suspended pilots will be reinstated and will report back to work after 10pm on Friday. The 800 odd pilots who had been striking will report to work, said the IPCA President, Capt AS Bhinder.

The snap decision to derecognize the ICPA will also be reverted with Bhinder commenting, “Government has given us assurances that they will look into all our demands including our complaints of irregularities against the airline management." All the suspensions, transfers and sacking too will be regressed.

The other major bone of contention between the pilots and the management was the lack of parity in compensation in lieu of the 'fixed flying hours allowance'. The demand for the withdrawal of the contempt-of-court filed by the AI management will be dissolved and the request for a CBI probe on the alleged corruption and mismanagement will be addressed in a timely fashion.

Civil Aviation Minister, Vayalar Ravi heaved a sigh of relief after the pilot deadlock was broken and said that he was glad for "agreeing to our suggestions and withdrawing the strike." He added that the "interests of all sections of employees will be taken care of by the Dharmadhikari Committee"

OneIndia News