As the strike by the pilots of Air India entered it’s seventh day, passengers’ woes kept mounting. Fourteen international flights have been cancelled overnight including three from Mumbai, ten from Delhi, and one from New York, reported Hindustan Times.
On Sunday, Mumbai airport’s international terminal was brimming with passengers waiting to be accommodated on other flights or waiting to hear about the status of their flights. Angry passengers tried to block the road outside the Mumbai airport last night and early this morning frustrated with the lack of information given to them by Air India officials. Some of them were waiting for 3-4 hours without proper information, reported NDTV.
Reuters
“Nobody is telling us anything. We don’t have anything to eat, we are sitting on road,” a passenger told NDTV.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had appealed to the pilots on Sunday to resume work, saying that the management was ready to look into their pending demand.
Since the beginning of the agitation, the airline management has sacked 71 pilots and sought cancellation of the flying licenses of 11 office-bearers of the Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG). But the pilots continued to strike.
Earlier in the week, the Delhi High Court had declared the strike illegal, but that too did not deter the pilots.
The pilots on strike are unhappy with the management for allegedly failing to give them the promotions that are due. They also say that it’s unacceptable for Indian Airlines pilots to be trained to fly the new Boeing Dreamliner, which is meant to join the national carrier’s fleet later this month.
