The Airline has reduced its operation to 40 from its 165 regular flights. Official sources confirmed that the management is in favour of persuading pilots to return to the negotiating table. AIR India CMD Arvind Jadhav in an SMS to its employees has appealed them to urge the pilots to start talks a fresh.
An airline spokesman said nearly 90 per cent of the domestic operations were hit. Agitating pilots say that they have not received any formal invitation for talks from the Air India management. They maintain they are open to talks if an assurance is given that their demands will be met in a set time frame. Delhi High Court last week came down heavily on striking pilots for defying its order to resume work. This followed Air India management moving the court seeking contempt proceedings against the pilots. Our Mumbai correspondent reports that Air India has landed itself in the worst debt trap. It has been incurring a loss of 26 crore rupees per day.
