Jet pilots to strike over colleagues dismissal

As many as 700 pilots of private carrier Jet Airways have decided to serve a strike notice to the airlines management on Monday protesting against the dismissal of two senior pilots earlier this month. The strike will be held on September 7,when the 15-day mandatory period of the notice gets over,said a pilot. Jet flies to over 44 domestic and nearly 20 international destinations,and a strike will affect its services.

Earlier this month,Jet commanders Sam Thomas and D Balaraman were informed via email that their services were not required. Sources said the two were dismissed soon after joining the National Aviators Guild,a union of pilots registered recently. This infuriated the pilots. We have sent a notice to the management demanding reinstatement of these two pilots, said a Jet pilot,adding that the termination letter gave no reasons. We have the support of close to 700 pilots, he added.

However,Jet Airways said in a statement the carrier had not received any official intimation regarding the strike. Jet Airways is a scheduled airline and any disruption of flights would not only be contrary to the law but also opposed to public interest. In any event,Jet Airways has sufficient contingency arrangements to ensure its passengers are not inconvenienced by any irresponsible actions of some pilots, it said. Last year,Jet was under media glare for asking its pilots to accept a 25 pay cut,which faced opposition from the employees. The airline is looking at ways to trim its Rs 1,200-crore salary bill besides taking a serious note of its bloated operating costs.