With the striking pilots showing no signs of backing down,Air India (AI) sacked nine more pilots today and moved the Supreme Court seeking criminal contempt proceedings against the leaders of the agitation for disobeying the courts order that pilots from both erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines should train on the new Dreamliner aircraft. Despite Delhi High Court declaring the strike illegal yesterday,pilots did not show up for work and said that the agitation would continue until their demands were met. Eight international flights and at least six domestic flights which would have continued on as international flights were cancelled today,and passengers were stranded at airports across the country. Six flights of AIs low-cost arm,Air India Express,were cancelled too. Services from Delhi to Chicago,Frankfurt,Shanghai,Paris and Toronto were cancelled. Passengers to Jeddah,Riyadh and Newark from Mumbai were left stranded. As the prospects for the ailing airline were dented further,its management in Mumbai negotiated with bankers for pushing through a financial restructuring package. Outside Parliament,Civil Aviation Minister Mr Ajit Singh said that AIs long haul would be affected for some time. In both Houses,the opposition accused the government of committing a series of blunders,including the merger of the erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines,and expressed concern over private airlines raising fares to fleece passengers. AI today stopped taking passenger bookings for westbound flights until May 15. The airline has given passengers the option to postpone,advance or cancel their tickets for travel up to May 14 at no extra cost. The number of pilots sacked in the four days of the strike is now 45. The pilots started calling in sick on Monday night after four days of discussions with the management failed. Pilots represented by the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) which represents pilots of Air India prior to its merger with Indian Airlines are against the management decision to allow pilots of the erstwhile Indian Airlines to train on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. They want the exclusive right to fly all long-haul routes and first class travel when on duty. Air India counsel Lalit Bhasin said the strike violated Supreme Court orders of April 23 and May 2,directing that the Dreamliner training would be imparted in equal ratio to pilots of pre-merger Air India and Indian Airlines. The first Dreamliner is likely to be inducted this month. Bhasin said armtwisting by the striking pilots was coming in the way of administration of justice.
