AIR INDIA CANCELS 165 FLIGHTS

Air India cancels 165 flights as pilots continue strike

    165 flights were cancelled and re-scheduled Monday,2^nd May,2011, as nearly half of Air India's 1,600 pilots continued their strike for the sixth day even as the Delhi High Court was set to hear a contempt petition against office-bearers of the union who had earlier been ordered to call off the protest."We will operate around 60 flights on our entire domestic network today. Around 165 flights were cancelled and rescheduled due to the strike," a senior official with the operational arm of the airline said. According to the official, the flag carrier's international operations were also affected with the cancellation of 43 flights bound for foreign destinations like London, Dubai and Kathmandu.

         Thousands of stranded passengers across the country were also upset with the steep 50-75 percent hike in fares by private airlines.According to the official, 100 domestic flights of its subsidiary arm of Alliance Air were still being run. "Only the operations of Air India's main domestic arm are effected. Our subsidiary Alliance Air is still active with 100 flights on the national network," said the official.

He said the airline had since Thursday adopted a reduced operations plan and hired a Kingfisher Airlines' Airbus aircraft to lessen passenger load. Under the new operations plan, the airline will fly fewer flights by wide-bodied aircraft."Currently, our operations are going on smoothly. As we have stopped ticket bookings till May 4, passenger loads will also come down and we will be able to tide over this period," the official said. Delhi High Court Monday is expected to hear the contempt petition against the striking pilot union's office-bearers, who were ordered to call off their agitation last week. If found guilty by the court, the top brass of the union face a possible six-month jail for contempt of court.

     The court of Justice Gita Mittal Friday initiated criminal contempt of court proceedings against members of the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA), the union behind the strike and whose members were on the payroll of the erstwhile Indian Airlines.Air India has some 1,600 pilots on its rolls and operates some 320 flights daily. Thousands of stranded passengers across the country were forced to shell out high fares for bookings in other private airlines, which have increased their ticket prices.In the Delhi-Mumbai sector, some passengers complained that the base fare of Rs.2,400-Rs.3,000 for last-minute bookings had been jacked up to as much as Rs.7,500 by some carriers, resulting in a one-way cost of Rs.11,500, including various levies.Taking note of the sharp increase in air fares and the hassles faced by the AI passengers, aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) called a meeting with the top brass of private airlines.(Ref: manorama)

                                        Prof. John Kurakar