MUMBAI: A sudden strike by around 400 of the Air India (AI) ground staff at Mumbai Airport delayed several services throughout the day on Thursday. The staff resorted to strike for their demands related to a bonus.
Though some of the officials said that the off-duty staff was asked to fill in for the staff on strike, there had been no official word from the Air India over the issue and the MIAL staff confirmed that the strike continues to affect the AI flights with a delay of about an hour.
The ground staff is hired on a contractual basis by subsidiary company Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL). While there are around 5,000 employees working as ground staff all over India, around 400 are deployed at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).
The staff began with sudike around midnight. This led to piling up at the check-in counters of some of the foreign air lines also, as the Air India has contracts with them regarding the ground staff. Apart from checking in, the services like cargo loading-unloading and aircraft cleaning too were affected adding to the delays, sources said.