All union pilots to go on mass sick leave today, airline cancels 31 flights.
Jet Airways has cancelled 31 flights — 25 domestic and six international — for Wednesday with all 650 pilots under the National Aviators Guild (NAG) saying they would be joining protests after the management sacked three pilots today for refusing to allow company-appointed doctors to examine them. They are also likely to try and persuade the airline's 165 expatriate pilots to join the protests.
Turmoil reigned at airports around the country after Jet, India’s largest airline, was forced to cancel 154 domestic and 32 international flights after 361 pilots under NAG made good on a midnight decision and took mass sick leave.
The pilots were originally protesting against the management’s refusal to reinstate two pilots who were dismissed for unspecified reasons on July 31.
"We are still discussing our plan of action. As of now, one thing is decided that no pilot would report for duty tomorrow. But whether it would be strike or leave is yet to be decided. We are also requesting the expats to join us," said a NAG representative.
The decision to go on mass sick leave impacted some 13,000 passengers out of the 26,000 that Jet Airways and low-cost subsidiary JetLite carry daily. Jet Airways has a 26.3 per cent — 18.9 per cent of Jet Airways and 7.4 per cent of JetLite — share of the domestic passenger market that carries 100,000 passengers a day. JetLite pilots are not part of this protest. A company statement said 25 per cent of domestic flights were able to operate till about noon today.
Jet Airways’ Chairman Naresh Goyal held a series of meetings with civil aviation ministry officials and also met Home Secretary G K Pillai. The civil aviation ministry hinted that it might ask the state governments to invoke the Essential Service Maintenance Act (Esma) if the pilots do not come back to work soon.
Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, Aviation Secretary M Nambiar said: "According to the civil aviation requirements, any act on the part of pilots that may result in last-minute cancellation of flights and harassment of passengers would be treated as an act against the public interest.”
| WHAT HAPPENED ON TUESDAY |
| * 163 captains and 198 first officers reported sick |
| * Airline cancels 186 flights, impacting 13,000 passengers |
| * Airline presses foreign pilots into service |
| * JetLite services normal |
| * Air India picks up Jet passengers for domestic and international routes |
| * Civil aviation ministry may ask states to invoke Esma |
| * High court passes order restraining pilots’ union from going on strike |
| * Airline management sacks three more pilots |
| * Union says it will intensify protests |
| * Jet says 31 flights will be cancelled on Wednesday |
| * Citu supports pilots’ union |
Analysts, however, said invoking Esma would not be possible since the pilots have not declared a strike.
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu), CPI(M)'s trade union wing, has also extended support to the agitating pilots. "If they (the terminated pilots) have been victimised and sacked illegally, other pilots have all the democratic right to protest. The government should not take any partisan stand by invoking Esma in a dispute between the management and the employees of a private company," said Tapan Sen, national secretary of CITU.
An airline statement said 163 captains and 198 first officers reported sick, disrupting flight schedules and causing inconvenience to the travelling public.
The statement added: “The number of pilots who reported sick represents nearly 40 per cent of the total airline pilot strength of 760 national pilots. This significant increase in the percentage of pilots reporting sick and disrupting flights is regarded by the airline as simulated strike.”
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court passed an order restraining NAG and its members from going on any form of strike on an application from the airline today.
A Jet Airways spokesperson said it is expecting the written order before taking appropriate action.
NAG, which has the support of over 650 pilots, appears to have toughened its stance, saying pilots were planning to take leave indefinitely.
“We will stay on leave till our demand is fulfilled and the pilots are reinstated” said a NAG representative. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), however, said it is planning to call the pilots for talks.
Although JetLite operated normally, the airline said foreign pilots who were on leave were pressed into service for the full-service long-haul flights. Jet has 165 foreign pilots on its roster.
Meanwhile, state-owned Air India has also picked up some of the slack. “We are picking up Jet passengers on the domestic and international sectors such as Dubai, Bangkok and Kathmandu, among others, said an Air India spokesperson.
In north India alone, Air India picked up 232 Jet passengers on its flights and about 105 from Dubai and 30 from Kathmandu.
Travel agents said they faced widespread cancellations as a result of the pilot protest. A spokesperson of online travel portal Yatra.com said it has seen over 1,000 tickets cancelled today, roughly equal to the amount of Jet Airways tickets it sells in a day. “There has been no booking for today and tomorrow on our portal,” the spokesperson added.
The other leading travel portal Makemytrip has also seen cancellations. “We sell 2,500 Jet tickets daily but have seen over 500 cancellations today” said Mohit Srivastava head of online sales in the travel portal.
NAG had announced plans to launch an indefinite strike from September 7. Although the strike was called off last night, pilots chose to go on sick leave as an alternative form of protest. The guild was demanding the reinstatement of two pilots — Sam Thomas and G Balaraman – whose services were terminated for reasons that were not specified.
The matter was referred to the labour commissioner, who heard both the sides on August 31 and has called for another hearing on September 14.
