A section of AI pilots threaten to go on strike

A section of Air India pilots today threatened to strike work from tonight following the failure of talks with the Air India management, Indian Pilots Guild sources said.

"The management (Air India) today completely backtracked from what had been agreed upon in the last 2-3 days. Therefore, we are left with no option but to intensify our agitation," sources told PTI here.

Disappointed over the management's attitude, some 100 odd pilots have already join the agitation and the Guild expects the number to swell to 250-300 by tomorrow, they said, indicating the flights operations could be hit severely in the coming days.

Earlier, the management held meeting with the pilots in New Delhi in its bid to defuse the crisis, arising out of the rescheduling of the dreamliners training programme.

On Saturday, a section of pilots reported sick, apparently to protest the move, resulting in the cancellation of one international flight and delaying another two by almost 16 hours.

It is understood that during their meeting today, the airline management told the pilots that they had no reasons to strike work at a time when the government had announced a bailout package for the national carriers.

The management is also said to have told the pilots to wait for a solution till the Justice D M Dharamadhikari Committee report is implemented by the government.

"No time is good for agitation. But at times things come to such a passe when agitation is the last resort to get the pending issues resolved," the Guild sources said.