The government yesterday suspended 12 Air India (AI) pilots for refusing to fly to SARS-affected countries unless their demands were met.
The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) had said they would not fly to any SARS-affected destination unless AI provides certificates before each flight stating that the crew on the plane has not been to SARS-affected countries, primarily Singapore and Hong Kong, in the previous 10 days.
"They (the pilots) were told yesterday (Friday) to take back their directives or action will be taken," AI spokesman Jitendra Bhargav said.
"They have not taken back their directives and therefore the management has decided to take a tough line and in the first step, 12 pilots are being suspended."
Earlier in the day, while the brief disruption of flights was averted with executive pilots, who are not members of the IPG flying the planes, a meeting between the IPG and Indian civil aviation ministry officials failed to resolve the crisis.
The pilots said they have already discussed the legal implications of their strike.
The AI management stressed it would ensure that most flights operate without any disruptions and a revised schedule of flights was due to be issued later yesterday. Bhargav said west-bound flights and those to Middle East would not be affected by the strike.
The impasse between Air India management and the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) yesterday resulted in a number of flights being cancelled and delayed.
Yesterday, Air India flights AI 308 Delhi-Bangkok, AI 462 Delhi-Singapore-Kuala Lumpur and AI 757 Bangalore-Dubai were cancelled with the rest of the flights, including the Gulf destinations, being rescheduled.
Though there are no cancellations as of now , today delay are expected in the flight AI 165 Mumbai-Frankfurt, AI 125 Mumbai-London and AI 111 Mumbai-London-John F. Kennedy Airport.
A meeting between K. Roy Paul, Secretary-Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) and Chairman, Air-India, assisted by Mr V. Subramanian, Additional Secretary, MOCA and Anurag Goel, Joint Secretary-MOCA was held with the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) in Mumbai yesterday.
"The IPG was told in categorical terms by Paul that the various directives issued by the IPG in the past three weeks lack merit, justification and were totally unreasonable," said Jitendra Bhargav.
Crew have not travelled to SARS affected countries in the last 10 days. The IPG has also said that two of AI's pilots have been asked to undergo tests for SARS by the airline's doctors. The pilots wants the management to declare that this is not a strike by them.
Bhargav says that it was explained to the IPG that their directives have no justification considering that the World Health Organisation (WHO), IATA and the health authorities of the Government of India have been categorical that there is no risk involved to a crew member being in transit while operating a flight to Hong Kong and Singapore as most international airlines have continued to operate their flights to these destinations.
They were also informed that the WHO, has in a recent communication held in Bangkok for all Asia Pacific airlines, clearly stated that since the outbreak of SARS more than 200 million passengers have boarded the aircraft and that there have been less than five cases of possible transmission of SARS in the aircraft cabin and that even these five cases had occurred before screening procedures were put in place at various international airports.
The fears of IPG with regard to SARS and their demand for a certification from Air-India Management before undertaking a flight was therefore totally misplaced.
Gulf News
