NEW DELHI, India (NNN-Bernama) -- India's aviation sector may just be heading for a very hard landing if the government does not step in with a firm decision to restore the situation as Kingfisher Airlines' pilots join their Air India counterparts to call in sick leave.
"Pilot strike and subsequent cancellation of flights is not acceptable especially for business travellers," said 43-year old frequent business traveler Abdul Salahudeen.
Given that Air India is a flag carrier, the government should step in and take a firm decision before things get out of control, he told Bernama when met at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
"Although I am a frequent traveller, this is my first time using Air India. The news of pilot strike and flight cancellation is shocking and I have never experienced this before.
"I choose Air India because of the timing. The news is also disturbing as I arrived today and leaving tomorrow to attend an important meeting on Saturday. I hope my flight back will not be affected," said Salahudeen, who is a Singaporean.
However, Gaurav Ganguly, 25, said the strike would not impact travellers as long as the airlines make proper arrangements for the affected passengers.
"I am leaving for Oman today. I am on Air India but my flight is not affected," he said, adding that the airlines should take responsibility and proactive measures to keep passengers informed of changes.
"The airlines should give adequate information to passengers and not let them find out about flight cancellations only when they get to the airport," said Ganguly who works in Oman.
Some stranded and angry passengers were even stopped from talking to this reporter by Air India officers.
Times of India reported that Air India International has 800 pilots on its payroll and between 450 and 500 of them were members of the derecognized Indian
Pilots' Guild (IPG).
About 300-350 IPG members have been reporting sick since Monday night.
"We may seemingly have adequate pilots to operate all flights for some time. But that would mean exhausting their flight time duty limitations in a week or 10 days. So operating the full schedule is not possible," said an official.
The number of flight cancellations has gone up significantly on Thursday and passenger woes are mounting, said the English daily.
Moreover, other employees of Air India are fuming as this agitation might affect their chance of getting the Rs30,000 crore (US$5 billion) bailout required desperately for the airlines' survival.
It also reported that a majority of Kingfisher Airlines' pilots, largely based in Delhi, have refused to operate flights.
It is believed that Kingfisher owes its pilots salaries since January while Air India owes its employees Rs124 crores (US$23.5 million) in salaries. --NNN-BERNAMA
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