Private air carriers not to fly on Aug 18

“The idea is to highlight the urgency for government to intervene urgently,” the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) said Friday after a meeting. However,state-run Air India,which is also a member of the FIA,has decided not to join the “boycott”.

Flanked by Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mallya and Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal,FIA Secretary General Anil Baijal,told a press conference that “if adequate response is not received,member airlines will be compelled to suspend their services for an indefinite period.”

Ironically,their protest decision came on a day when oil marketing companies hiked aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by Rs 620 per kilolitre effective from Friday midnight.

Pranab to talk to Patel on pvt airlines’ strike

Hours after private airlines announced suspending domestic flights on August 18,Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he will talk to his counterpart in the civil aviation ministry about the matter.

“I will talk to the Civil Aviation Minister (Praful Patel),” Mukherjee told reporters when asked about the proposed strike.

In an unprecedented move,eight major private airlines,which carry over one lakh passengers a day,on Friday decided not to operate domestic flights on August 18 demanding immediate bailout and threatened to suspend their services indefinitely if the government does not intervene urgently.