Mumbai/New Delhi: For the second consecutive day Jet Airways flights were disrupted following an ongoing agitation by pilots, leading to cancellation of 160 flights across the country on Wednesday, an airline official said.
Many pilots continued to report sick on Wednesday despite a Bombay High Court order on Tuesday evening restraining them from resorting to any form of strike in the country's largest private airline.
Meanwhile, Air India has stepped in to make the most of Jet Airways' losses.
Air India came to the rescue of the Sri Lanka-bound Indian cricket team, left in a lurch after the pilots' strike crippled the services of Jet Airways which was originally supposed to take the side to the island nation for a one-day tri-series.
They were supposed to fly by the Jet Airways whose services have been hit by the ongoing strike by its pilots, an Air India spokesman said.
Air India will operate a special flight from Chennai at 1100 IST on Wednesday to reach Bangalore where it will pick up players including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and R P Singh playing for the Air India team in the BCCI corporate trophy before leaving for Colombo.
Meanwhile, other Jet Airways passengers have already cancelled their flights with the carrier. So there was relatively less chaos at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport.
Pilots get more support
The striking pilots got support from the National Union of Seafarers of India. General Secretary Abdul G Sarang said that until the issue was resolved, the NUSI would not utilise the services of Jet Airways to transfer their members all over the country and to other parts of the world.
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Jet pilots are expected to meet the Director General of Civil Aviation, a senior Civil Aviation Ministry official said. The directorate has asked states to see if it is necessary to invoke the Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) if the agitation continues.
The Government is expected to meet Jet Airways officials sometime later in the day.
It could also give clearance to the national carrier Air India to add flights to carry Jet Airways passengers.
Jet Airways officials have said that they have been able to maintain their international operations. However, it had to cancel 16 international flights on Tuesday after the pilots reported sick.
A total of 186 flights – 154 domestic and 32 international – had been cancelled or affected throughout its network, the airline said. The strike also grounded most of the carrier's domestic flights.
However, all of its wide-body aircraft on long-haul flights were operating normally, thanks to their foreign pilots, who reportedly did not participate in the sick-out.
The Government may invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the pilots.
About 360 pilots are part of the National Aviators Guild that is spearheading the agitation to demand the reinstatement of two senior colleagues.
Meanwhile, eight other trade unions have sent letters to jet management in support of the pilots. They are:
All India Trade Union Congress
Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh
Center of Indian Trade Unions
Hind Mazdoor Sabha
Indian National Trade Union Congress
United Trade Union Congress
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