160 Jet flights cancelled, pilots continue 'sick leave'

For the second consecutive day, Jet Airways flights were disrupted following an ongoing agitation by pilots, leading to cancellation of 160 flights across the country on Wednesday, an airline official said.

Many pilots continued to report sick on Wednesday despite a Bombay High Court order on Tuesday evening restraining them from resorting to any form of strike in the country's largest private airline.

Many passengers, however, had already cancelled their flights with Jet Airways. So there was relatively less chaos at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, the pilots on strike got support from the National Union of Seafarers of India. The general secretary, Mr Abdul G. Sarang, said early on Wednesday that until the issue was resolved, the NUSI would not utilise the services of Jet Airways to transfer their members all over the country and to other parts of the world.

The Jet pilots are expected to meet the director general of civil aviation, a senior civil aviation ministry official said on Wednesday. The directorate has asked states to see if it is necessary to invoke the Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) if the agitation continues.

The government is expected to meet the Jet Airways officials sometime later in the day. It could also give clearance to the national carrier Air India to add flights to carry Jet Airways passengers.

Jet Airways officials have said that they have been able to maintain their international operations. However, it had to cancel 16 international flights on Tuesday after the pilots reported sick.