Resume work today or else,Patel to pilots

The crisis deepened on Tuesday as 72 pilots of the old Air India joined the 116 agitating pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines. As many as 101 domestic and 14 international flights — including non-stop long-haul flights to New York,London and Chicago from the metros — were cancelled.

Fresh bookings remained suspended for the second day running. The AI website continued to show ‘seats not available’ for all flights till October 15.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took stock of developments through the day,and in the evening met Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. Sources in the government said the AI management was told not to buckle under pressure,and to take the pilots head on.

The airline’s legal department is reportedly of the opinion that AI is within its rights to suspend — or even sack — the pilots for negligence of duty. “Since the executive pilots are part of the management,they cannot act against the interest of the management,” the legal department is understood to have opined.

Patel appealed to the pilots to return to work by midnight,but made it clear that if they didn’t fall in line,“all options are open” for the management,which will be “free to take any measure it feels fit”.

Talks on Tuesday centred around the productivity-linked incentives (PLIs) of executive pilots that the AI board has decided to cut by up to 50 per cent. AI was willing to modify its position,but the pilots insisted on a total withdrawal. AI has decided to set up a committee of executive pilots to discuss modifications to the board decision.

AI sources said CMD Arvind Jadhav met senior executives on Sunday to chalk out a plan for the worst-case scenario. “The idea was to prepare a contingency plan in case the airline has to scale down operations to a level where all loss-making routes are dropped or combined and the minimum number of employees with which the airline can run can be determined. Alternative plans are being drawn to deal with the worst-case scenario,” said a top AI official.