National NEWS
130 Jet Flights Cancelled as Pilots Go on Mass Leave
September 8, 2009 Visionmp.com news service
Jet Airways had to cancel at least 130 flights on Tuesday, all slated to take off from four major metros, following a large chunk of pilots did not report on duty in protest against sacking of two of their colleagues, a step termed as “sabotage of operations” by the airlines.
Of the four metro, passengers in Mumbai had to suffer most because at least 115 out of 345 flights failed to take off, while in Delhi, at least 10 flights of Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite were cancelled. In Chennai, six flights, three of them international, were cancelled and four in Kolkata.
Jet Airways officials said that the morning flight from Kolkata and Dhaka took as scheduled.
In the face of crisis, Naresh Goya, chairman Jet Airways, met civil aviation secretary Madhavan Nambiar on Tuesday morning for about half-an-hour and is understood to have discussed the situation.
Ministry officials said that the government was closely monitoring the situation.
In a press statement, Jet Airways said that a section of the pilots have resorted to a “simulated strike by reporting sick”.
“This organised activity is a planned sabotage of operations that will damage the airline’s operations and inconvenience the travelling public,” it said.
In the meanwhile, Jet Airways said that all affected guests could receive a full refund or rebook themselves on alternate date without any cancellation or reissue charges. However, passengers were not impressed.
Needless to add, the pilots have been demanding the reinstatement of two of their colleagues, who were sacked recently. The airline has some 700 pilots on its rolls.
The newly formed National Aviators Guild, a union of some Jet Airways pilots, has called the strike. They are protesting the sacking of two of their colleagues earlier this month. The airline has declined to recognise this union.
Girish Kaushik, the president of the guild, said that they had issued the mandatory 14-day notice to the airline, adding the sacking of the two pilots was an act of vendetta for starting a new union and totally unjustified.
The two sacked senior pilots, Balaraman and Sam Thomas, were told of their termination by e-mail. The pilots claim that they were given the pink slip as they were instrumental in forming the new union.
Comment
The Delhiwala Blog
Suhasini Haider's Blog at ibnlive.in.com
The Best car Pictures
Orkut funny scraps, music scraps