New Delhi: Hit by a strike by the pilots, national carrier Air India will not take any fresh bookings for the next five days, sources have told CNN-IBN. The 800-odd pilots, who belong to the erstwhile Indian Airlines and owe allegiance to the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), have gone on strike alleging there are differences in salaries and working conditions of pilots of Indian Airlines and Air India.
The airline has been forced to cancel several flights and many more have been delayed due to the strike which entered the second day on Thursday.
Air India Director Vipin Sharma said that Alliance Air and Air India Express are running normally while there has been minor disruption of international flights.
Sharma said that 57 flights were cancelled on Wednesday and 36 cancelled on Thursday. He also announced that the services of one more pilot has been terminated and four others suspended
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Thursday issued contempt notice against three office bearers of ICPA. The High Court has on Wednesday asked the pilots to withdraw their strike.
The striking pilots have alleged the Air India management has violated the memorandum of settlement signed in November 2009 on implementing the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.
The entity, formed after merger of Indian Airlines and Air India, has about 1,200 pilots with 400 belonging to erstwhile Air India and largely operate international flights.
The ICPA claims while Air India pilots enjoy a big fixed salary component, the same is almost minuscule for the former Indian Airlines pilots.
The pilots contend that while their entire pay package depends on the hours they fly every day, the airlines has been curtailing the number of flights by 30 to 40 per cent.
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