New Delhi: National carrier Air India will shift to an "interim plan" to salvage its international operations that have been crippled by a 24-day-old pilots' strike. "We have finished work on our interim plan and it will be implemented from June 1. Under the new plan, several destinations where the load factors are quite low might be dropped for the time being," an Air India official told IANS. The airline...
12:47 AM, Jun 01, 2012
New Delhi: It is day 23 of the Air India pilots' strike and Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has reiterated that the pilots' demands will be considered only when they return back to work. Meanwhile, from June 1, the airline will drop seven international flights - so out of 45 flights the airline will operate only 38. The national carrier has lost over Rs 310 crores due to the strike....
10:36 AM, May 30, 2012
New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Monday constituted a four-member panel to examine Air India's route profitability, even as the strike by pilots of the national carrier continued for the 21th day, taking its losses to more than Rs 300 crore (about $55 mn). The decision came after the minister reviewed the status of flights on domestic and international routes which are non-profitable. According to a ministry official,...
01:51 AM, May 29, 2012
Mumbai: Air India board will meet in Mumbai on Monday to discuss the nearly three-week-old strike by over 200 pilots and a host of financial issues. Airline sources said the board is likely to consider the next steps to be taken to deal with the strike, spearheaded by the now derecognised Indian Pilots Guild. The airline has sacked 101 pilots and is mulling hiring new pilots to restore normalcy its...
05:34 AM, May 28, 2012
New Delhi/Mumbai: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Friday told Air India's striking pilots that the airline may begin hiring new pilots if the 18-day-old strike continued. "We are not waiting for them, (we) can even begin hiring new pilots," the minister told after meeting some of the striking pilots. "I have told them my stand, now they need to think," Singh said. "We are now flying half the international...
01:16 AM, May 26, 2012
New Delhi: A truce between Air India management and striking pilots may be on the cards after Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Friday met the pilots. Sources told CNN-IBN that the sacked pilots may be taken back on the case-to-case basis. The Air India management is also likely to hire pilots for international operations soon. Taking a tough stand on the issue earlier, the Aviation Minister had blamed...
01:55 PM, May 25, 2012
New Delhi/Mumbai: Softening its stand, striking Air India pilots on Thursday welcomed Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh's offer to hold talks with them, indicating that they are ready to return to work if the 101 sacked pilots are reinstated. A day after Singh's fresh appeal to them to end their strike which has entered the 17th day, the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) sought an appointment with the minister to "clarify...
08:30 PM, May 24, 2012
New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Wednesday refused to comment on the leaked Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report that hinted at financial irregularities in allocating the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport to a conglomerate led by infrastructure major GMR Group. The CAG report questioned the rationale behind allowing Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the company which runs the IGI airport, to levy user charges on passengers, which...
01:32 AM, May 24, 2012
New Delhi: It's the 16th day of the Air India crisis and cracks between the airline management and the Pilots Guild getting deeper. A contempt notice was issued to Air India pilots on Wednesday. The notice said that the pilots have to reply by July 13 and if they don't join work, they'll continue in contempt till then. If their contempt is upheld after they file their reply on July...
04:22 PM, May 23, 2012
New Delhi: It's the 16th day of the Air India crisis. The cracks between the airline management and the Indian Pilots Guild seemed to have gone deeper. The Pilots Guild accused the management of indulging in financial malpractice and mismanagement that has caused the airline losses worth Rs 4,300 crore. "Mismanagement of the company's resources, hostility towards the welfare of erstwhile Air India employees and forced merger are the main...
02:16 PM, May 23, 2012
Mumbai: With no end in sight to the strike by a section of Air India pilots which entered the 15th day on Tuesday, the airline management has extended its contingency plan of curtailed operations to June 1. "The contingency plan that we have put in place has now been extended to June 1 from May 25," Air India sources told PTI in Mumbai. Besides, the bookings are being accepted only...
11:26 PM, May 22, 2012
New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Tuesday blamed Air Indias striking pilots for the airlines poor financial condition. He said that the government was doing everything to break the deadlock but the striking pilots were not ready to listen. "We are ready to discuss all the issue. Let us realise that the Air India is in a very bad financial condition. We are in the process of determining...
04:45 PM, May 22, 2012
New Delhi: The Air India crisis has entered the 15th day on Tuesday and there is still no clarity on when the pilots' strike will end. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh met 13 Air India unions on Monday to discuss the turnaround plan and the future of the national carrier. While sources claimed that one of the requests by the unions was to reinstate the 71 sacked pilots, the Air...
08:49 AM, May 22, 2012
New Delhi/Mumbai: Air India on Monday sacked 30 more striking pilots as the agitation by over 200 pilots entered the 14th day with no signs of a resolution to end the impasse. "The services of 30 more pilots have been terminated," AI spokesperson told PTI. With this, the number of dismissed pilots owing allegiance to the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) has gone up to 101. The AI crackdown came on...
08:42 PM, May 21, 2012
New Delhi: Four more Air India pilots have broken away from their striking colleagues and reported back on duty on Monday, sources said. With the coming back of the four the total number of pilots who resumed their duty has risen to seven. The three pilots had reported for duty on May 16. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh is likely to hold talks with all recognised Air India unions with...
02:41 PM, May 21, 2012
New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Monday is scheduled to hold talks with all recognised Air India unions as the pilots' strike enters day 14. The Indian Pilots guild is not a part of the 13 unions invited for the talks, as it was derecognised. The government's appeal to the pilots to resume work went unheeded. "It is more for familiarisation to get to know them. Unions have...
06:18 AM, May 21, 2012
New Delhi: As the stir by over 200 Air India pilots entered the 13th day on Sunday, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said the unions have to look at the health of their organisation and understand that this is an era of competition. Singh, who is meeting leaders of 13 recognised Air India unions on Monday, said, "It is more for familiarisation to get to know them. Unions have a...
07:56 PM, May 20, 2012
New Delhi/Mumbai: The crisis in Air India raged on for the 13th day on Sunday and the national carrier's losses mounted to Rs 230 crore as the impasse between agitating pilots and the management continued. "The loss due to ticket cancellations, unused labour and with the bulk of our Boeing-777 fleet grounded now stands at Rs 230 crore. Our losses per day stand between Rs 13-15 crore," a senior official...
07:19 PM, May 20, 2012
New Delhi: There was no end in sight to the Air India pilots' strike which entered 13th day on Sunday with the cockpit group apparently ignoring all appeals by the government to return to work. The national carrier operated a curtailed international schedule, flying seven West-bound flights instead of normal schedule of 16 daily flights, AI sources said. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had on Saturday appealed to the agitating...
04:47 PM, May 20, 2012
Lucknow: As the strike by Air India pilots entered the 12th day, Government on Saturday promised to sort out problems of pilots within three months and appealed to them to join work. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said that whatever problems pilots have they should come forward and discuss. "But it is not possible by creating loss or causing inconvenience to the passengers...The government will not adopt a victimisation policy,...
04:28 PM, May 19, 2012
