Even as the standoff between pilots and management of Jet Airways continued,and the standoff intensified on day two,the government is believed to have told the airlines management to reach a compromise to minimise inconvenience caused to the travelling public. A highly-placed official familiar with the development said that Jet Airways has been advised to reach a compromise with the pilots first,and it could consider re-instating the two retrenched pilots in six months time. Sources said the management held a conference call with union members late on Wednesday evening,however the talks remained inconclusive. The airline may hold another round of talks late on Wednesday night which may continue through to Thursday,said a source. Both parties expressed their willingness to talk and resolve the crisis. Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal was in the Capital and is reported to have held discussions with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel at his residence in the morning. However,Jet chief commercial officer Sudheer Raghavan reiterated that the carrier was not willing to soften its stand if the pilots continued to report sick en mass. Raghavan further said that the airline had accommodated about 80 per cent of its stranded passengers. Jet Airways management was unwilling to buckle under pressure being exerted by pilots,particularly in light of the order passed by the Bombay High Court on Wednesday issuing a notice to the National Aviators Guild and its office bearers for contempt of court. Airports across the country today saw over 200 domestic and 28 international flights cancelled after 432 of 760 pilot reported sick on day two of the standoff. Airline sources said about 15,000 to 20,000 passengers had been affected on day two. About 20 per cent of those who were affected by flight cancellations opted for immediate over the counter refunds, said a Jet official. Jet sources also said that the airline was suffering revenue losses of about $8 million daily due to the cancellations. Though legally the airline cannot ask its low-cost carrier JetLite to fly Jet Airways flights due to IATA rules,it is learnt to have deployed between three to six JetLite aircraft on some profitable routes to accommodate passengers. Meanwhile,captains Sam Thomas and Suhel Jain both laid off by the airline said they were not playing the who blinks first game with the carriers management and were open to talks at any time to resolve the issue. Jet terminated Jains services via email on Tuesday. The pilots also said that before going on sick leave en mass they,had been trying to negotiate with Jets management for the past 40 days,but to no avail. The purpose of the union was not to hold the carrier to ransom but to join the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA),for which forming the union was a prerequisite, Thomas said. We are getting support from all sides and the boys are willing to go down together in this all the way, National Aviators Guild president Girish Kaushik had said earlier in the day. Till our demands are not met,people are going to remain sick for sometime, said another senior pilot.
