HC rap and labour commissioner’s persuasion helped; normalcy by Saturday, says airline CMD.
The two-day strike by ground staff and engineers of the government carrier had led to over 100 flight cancellations and a loss of Rs 12 crore to the airline. Around 13,000 passengers were affected. Some rival airlines had also raised their fares by as much as 40 per cent.
“We are operating 78 schedules tomorrow to clear the backlog. It will take us up to two-and-a-half days to bring back our operations to normal,” said AI’s chairman and managing director, Arvind Jadhav.
The unions — Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) and All India Airlines Engineers Association (AIAEA) — went on strike in protest at the alleged “gag order” issued after employees had critically analysed the Air India Express crash at Mangalore on Saturday in the media.
However, the airline said it had not issued any order restraining its staff from airing their views in the media. “An office order issued by the airline in July 2009 is being misinterpreted by some sections of the employees with ulterior motives,” said an AI statement.
Union leaders maintained there was a gag order and it was mediation by the chief labour commissioner (CLC) which led them to call off the agitation, not the strong line taken by the government.
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“After the intervention of the CLC, we have decided to call off our strike. CLC has assured that the gag order will be kept in abeyance,” said Dinakar Shetty, president of the ACEU.
The unions said all their members, about 15,000 of an estimated 30,000-odd AI employees, had been on strike. Jadhav contended only 3,000 people had walked off their jobs.
Earlier in the day, the government warned the strikers of “strict action”.
“The strike is an illegal and irresponsible behaviour by the employees and the Air India management is free to take all appropriate action. The management needs to act adequately and firmly,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had said. “The government will back the management on any decision they take against the employees.”
Sources said the prime minister and the finance minister wanted strict action against the strikers. “The PM and FM want the strike to end immediately, even if it comes after strict action against the employees,” said a source in the know.
The airline management also got support from the High Court of Delhi, which termed the strike “illegal”. It directed the unions to end it and not to cause any obstruction to visitors and passengers at the airports.
With most schools and colleges closed, there is usually a heavy rush of holiday makers around this time of the year. The strike added to the demand constraint and this showed in the airline fares, which firmed up by 40 per cent.
“A full-service carrier, which was offering Delhi-Mumbai tickets at Rs 5,500 yesterday, is offering the same at Rs 7,800 today,” said Bhawna Agarwal, founding vice-president (Airlines Business Group), Yatra.com, a travel portal. “We do see fares going up by 15-20 per cent if the strike continues for the next two-three days.” She was speaking before the decision to call off the strike was announced.