‘Sick’ AI pilots ground flights

What added to the passengers’ woes was the rude behaviour exhibited by the Air India staff at terminal 1A of the domestic terminal — they were just not forthcoming with information on cancelled flights,the passengers said.

Veena Gautam,one of the harassed passengers,said: “I am being made to go from one counter to another and nobody is ready to talk properly. My last night’s flight to Chandigarh was cancelled and I was booked for another IC flight at 1.10 pm today.”

That second flight,too,was cancelled. The airline,she said,had supplied no prior information regarding the cancellation and its staff at the airport appeared unaware of the status,she added. She had to run from pillar to post before she came to know that the flight was cancelled — almost at 12.45 pm.

Air India spokesperson Chandra Kumar accepted that certain passengers were not informed in advance. “In some cases it was not possible to inform the passengers as the pilots reported sick just an hour before the scheduled flight,” he said.

The pilots’ strike has put a dampner on the festive season. Passengers rued they could not reach their homes well in time for Dussehra celebrations.

Gautam,who landed from Lucknow last evening,had to reach her home in Shimla by Sunday evening.

“But now I don’t know,” she said. “Who is responsible for this delay? The AI staff seemed unsure about the cancellation. And when I asked for a refund,they were not ready to pay either. One does not expect such behaviour from the national carrier,” she said. Gautam finally booked herself on a GoAir flight at 3 pm.

“I decided to go by air,thinking it would be more comfortable for my age,” said 70-year-old Shimla Jain,who was going to Udaipur on a religious trip. “I am at the airport since 11 am for my flight scheduled at 1 pm,which they now say has been cancelled. There is no place to even sit and I feel so harassed. Taking a bus would have been a better option.”

Transit passengers from Kolkata to Jodhpur,D Chattopadhayay,who was travelling with his family,had a similar story to narrate. “I checked with Air India this morning if our flight to Jodhpur had been cancelled or not. Only when they said the flight would depart as per the normal schedule did I leave Kolkata with my family. Now I am told the flight has been cancelled,” said Chattopadhayay,who had plans to spend Dussehra in Jodhpur.

The Air India had planned 27 flights from Delhi on Sunday,of which only 18 could be operated. As many as 50 flights were cancelled across the country on the second day of the strike by pilots.

The airline had to cancel the flights as pilots did not report for duty citing health reasons.

The striking pilots said they would not talk to the management till a directive to effect a cut in their productivity-linked incentives (PLI) is withdrawn. “As per the contingency plan,we have cancelled flights on sectors which have low passenger load or on which there are alternative flights — either by us or by other airlines,” said an Air India official. “The airline has reduced its seat availability from 37,000 to 22,000 per day.”

“The management should first release the payment of allowances of all pilots,which is due for the last three months and withdraw the directive for an upto 50 per cent reduction in PLIs,” said one of the striking pilots.