Jet Airways strike continues; 224 domestic and 26 international flights cancelled, 5 more pilots sacked

The strike by the pilots of Jet Airways continued, on September 10, 2009, the third day of the strike, with no compromise in sight for the face-off between the pilots and management that began after two pilots were dismissed. On September 9, 2009, the management dismissed five more pilots – bringing the total number of those sacked to 10.

The members of the Aviators Guild said that they are firm on their demand to take back the dismissed pilots and are willing to hold talks with the management but that they will not disband their union.

Jet Airways canceled a total of 224 domestic flights and 26 international flights operating out of various cities on September 9, 2009, even as Naresh Goyal, chairman of Jet Airways, said in a television interview that the carrier “cannot be taken hostage by the pilots.”

Naresh Goyal added that the inconvenienced passengers of the cancelled flights were being accommodated on other foreign and domestic airlines.

Several hundreds of passengers were left stranded.

Jet Airways has promised the passengers of the disrupted flights that they will be given full refund of their tickets. In the alternative, these passengers will be allowed to rebook flights without any penalty.

However, Jet Airways’ flights to the United Kingdom, North America and Europe will operate as scheduled, as spokesman of the airline said in a statement.

According to Saroj Dutta, executive director of Jet Airways, the pilots’ refusal to budge from their stand is “causing a great deal of discomfort to passengers as well as financial loss to the airline.” He said Jet Airways is losing around US $6 million each day on account of the pilots’ strike.

Meanwhile, on a petition by Jet Airways, the Bombay High Court issued a notice of contempt of court to the pilots union for going ahead with the strike despite an earlier court order restraining them from striking work.

Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud, who issued the contempt of court notice, has sought a reply from the pilots union by September 14, 2009.

A division bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice A M Khanwilkar, had, on September 8, 2009, restrained the pilots union from continuing the strike.

Jet Airways had moved the court after the pilots went on mass sick leave on September 7, 2009, in protest against the dismissal of two pilots.

Meanwhile, Air India has decided to fly a special plane to carry the Indian cricket team to Colombo. The team, scheduled to go to Colombo on September 9, 2009, by a Jet Airways flight, is to participate in the tri-nation one-day series to be held there.

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