While Indian Airlines reported delays ranging from five minutes to 40 minutes on 11 flights, eight flights of Jet Airways were delayed for similar periods till late afternoon. International flights, including those of Air-India, also remained affected since last night.

An IA official spokesperson said today's flight to Vizag was delayed by 40 minutes, while those to Bhavnagar and Trivandrum were delayed by 25 and 15 minutes respectively owing to delayed clearance from the ATCs.

With the ATCs preparing ``for along drawn battle'' with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) management to press for the implementation of duty allowance as per the recommendations of the Jhulka Committee, the passengers and airlines may well have to get used to the frequent delays, sources in the ATC Guild said.

The ATC Guild had submittedits charter of demands seeking reliefs on 20 different issues, including the disbursal of 10 per cent hourly duty allowance on Rs 10,000 of basic the salary per month, with a ceiling of 180 hours. The Jhulka Committee, which was appointed by the ministry to look into the demands, recommended in September 1997 that the ATCs were entitled to two per cent duty allowance. ``Though the recommendations were accepted by the management, the duty allowance has not yet been disbursed. We have now made it very clear that our work-to-rule agitation will continue till such time the duty allowance is disbursed with a retrospective effect since November 1997,'' said ATC Guild Regional Secretary, P N Bahuguna.

Justifying the demand, Bahuguna explained that the 650 ATCs in the country were severely short staffed and worked under tremendous stressful conditions. ``A survey done by the AAI itself stated that India needed almost double the number of ATCs. The criticism that the ATCs are demanding nearly an equal amount paidto airline pilots is baseless, as ATCs too, are directly responsible for the lives of passengers and flight safety. '' Bahuguna said.

Justified or not, the work to rule agitation will hit the airlines severely. Cancellations and inordinate delays due to thick fog cover over Delhi and other northern parts of the country had already created a dent in the marginal profits earned by Indian Airlines in December and January.