A flash strike called by two employee unions today grounded at least 50 Air India (AI) flights and delayed many others.
The strike has been called by the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU), which represents the lower-end staff and the Airline Engineers Association (AEA). The two unions claim to have support of 14,700 employees, about 50 per cent staff of the national carrier.
The industrial action is in protest against a gag order issued by the airline management after some staff members analysed Saturday’s Air India Express crash before the media. As many as 158 people were killed in the crash at Mangalore.
“We will remain on strike till the management withdraws the gag order...They have called us at 3 pm tomorrow (for talks),” said ACEU President Dinakar Shetty.
Air India engineers posted in Dubai, Bahrain, Sharjah and Southeast Asian countries are also participating in the strike, said Y V Raju, general secretary, AEA. “This will impact the short-haul services of the network,” he added.
The strike disrupted AI flights across the country, with Delhi and Mumbai being the worst affected.
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“Around 50 per cent of AI operations have been hit after the strike call,” said a source at the airport. AI operates over 400 flights every day.
An airline official said many AI flights will be cancelled tomorrow if the strike continues.
Meanwhile, efforts are on to convince the unions to call off the strike. Talks were on until late night between a team headed by Vijay Paul, executive director (northern region) of Air India and representatives of the striking unions. The airline management and the unions are also due to meet before the labour commissioner tomorrow.
In a statement issued late in the evening, Air India said: “In this hour of crisis, the management earnestly appeals to all sections of employees to join hands to strengthen the airline and maintain high performance to show that Air India can cope up with any emergency.”