Air Sahara services continue to be affected

Air Sahara's services continued to be affected today with the cancellation of at least five flights from here as a section of its pilots went on leave protesting "reduced" pay packets following the airline's takeover by Jet Airways.

Talks between the Air Sahara management and the pilots continued today, but there was no official word on the outcome.

As a contingency measure, the airline combined some flights today, and pressed into service executive pilots, who are on managerial positions, to minimise cancellations.

Air Sahara, which was sold to Jet Airways last month for Rs 2,300 crore, also had to accommodate passengers in Jet Airways and Indian.

The airline has stopped booking passengers for its flights from Mumbai and Kolkata for the next two days, sources said.

Asked whether legal action would be taken against the pilots, Alok Sharma, executive vice president of Air Sahara, said: "There is no need as they were on sick leave. If their is anything malafide, we will take necessary action."