Airport staff divided over strike

Some employees question validity of strike.

Even as the government tried to put together a plan to deal with the strike called by airport workers on Thursday, fissures emerged today in the employees' union. Some employees are questioning the validity of the strike.

Already, the staff managing air traffic, communication and navigation, have distanced themselves from the strike. A section of airport employees "� Airports Authority Officers' Association (AAOA) "� today claimed that none of its members was participating in the strike and that the strike was a violation of the agreement the employees had with the government in 2003.

"It is surprising that some constituents of the joint forum, the so-called representatives of executives, are now opposing the mutually agreed policy of restructuring the Delhi and Mumbai airports, thus taking a U-turn on the issue for reasons best known to them," said AAOA General Secretary Sanjive Chamoli in a statement.

The government, on its part, said it was taking all steps to ensure smooth operation of air services. "There will be disturbances but we are trying our best to resolve the crisis. We are having continuous dialogue with them," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here today.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also drawn up plans to deploy all trained operational personnel engaged in non-operation duties. In addition, to augment the strength of operation units, assistance has been sought from the Air Force, the Navy, Hindustan Aeronautical Limited and other government agencies.

Assistance has also been sought from fire brigade personnel trained in aviation safety along with fire tenders from various state governments. Besides, preventive maintenance of communication, navigation and surveillance facilities have been carried out.

"Installations, which are normally left unattended, have been properly sealed and arrangements have been made to keep a strict vigil on them so that they are not tampered with," the AAI said in a statement today.

The government is setting up monitoring centres at various airports to keep a close watch on the situation on an hourly basis. These monitoring centres will feed a central monitoring centre in Delhi with updates.

The strike is expected to impact about 1,000 aircraft movements and travel plans of about 50,000 passengers. One of the biggest sufferers will be the business travellers, who account for about 60 per cent of the overall passenger traffic.