The Air India (AI) pilots have finally called off their nearly two-month-long strike, but the road ahead is full of thorns for both the AI management and the pilots.
On Wednesday, the pilots of the now de-recognised Indian Pilots Guild roped in Congress MP Oscar Fernandes to push their demands.
Fernandes, a known trade unionist, offered juice to pilots on hunger strike and appreciated their decision to end the impasse. Fernandes said a meaningful dialogue process should begin soon.
“We hope that Oscar Fernandes will take up our issues with the Labour Minister and ensure that the Chief Labour Commissioner is able to amicably resolve them,” one of the pilots said.
However, this is easier said than done. The AI management has so far avoided a meeting with the pilots, even in presence of the Labour Commissioner at his office.
Due to the stalemate, the AI has incurred a revenue loss of `600 crore.
The ongoing exercise of identifying loss-making routes and rationalising them had also taken a back seat in the last one week -- ever since the pilots launched hunger strike.
“We have not taken any decision on the routes because all our attention was on the pilots’ strike. Bringing them before the Labour Commissioner would have been a futile reconciliation exercise as the management was mandated to reach no decision until the strike was completely called off,” a senior Civil Aviation Ministry official said.
While the pilots have started reporting back to work, the procedural formalities of medical tests could take more than a month’s time.
Before next month, the full-fledged operations of the carrier would not be possible. By this time, the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner is expected to enter the scene.
“We hope that the AI management and the Civil Aviation Ministry will be as sincere on their part. On this understanding, we are commencing the process of restoring normalcy in operations,” the pilots said in a statement.
Further decisions are expected to happen once Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh returns to the capital.