Jet flights cancelled, pilots go on mass sick leave
Mumbai: Chaos prevailed at Mumbai, Delhi and other airports across the country as over 400 pilots of Jet Airways stayed away from work on 'sick leave' since early Tuesday.
Nearly 20 domestic flights, including several early morning flights on trunk routes like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and other major sectors like Jaipur, Bhopal, Ahmedabad were cancelled.
Jet Airways management attempted to club flights or accommodate passengers on alternate flights to minimise inconvenience to fliers.
A section of pilots, who were rostered for flying duties from Tuesday, have gone on mass sick leave since midnight in protest against the termination of two senior pilots.
Jet Airways had last month terminated the services of two of its senior most pilots, saying, "Their services were not required" after the duo along with others formed a trade union body in the company.
While National Aviators Guild (NAG) has decided not to go on the proposed strike, its members decided alternate course of protest action like going on mass casual leave which hampered the operations of the private carrier.
Terming the pilots action "as an organised and planned sabotage of operations that would damage the airlines' operations", a Jet Airways spokesperson said that it contravened the ongoing conciliation process with the pilots before the Regional Labour Commissioner.
"The Regional Labour Commissioner had categorically stated that any strike by the pilots during this pendency of conciliation, would be deemed an illegal act, as per the Industrial Disputes Act," said the spokesperson on Tuesday morning.
According to an airport official, by 7 am as many as seven flights from Mumbai and nine from New Delhi to various destinations had been cancelled. However, the situation could become worse as the day progresses with the likelihood of flights to more sectors getting hit.
Jet Airways has said that passengers can get either a full refund or re-book themselves on any other flight even as it made efforts to operate the maximum number of flights.
The union, which gave a strike call from Monday midnight, had termed the sackings "an act of vendetta" and demanded the reinstatement of the pilots.
Subsequent to its serving a strike notice on the management, the issue was referred to the Regional Labour Commissioner.
A conciliatory meeting was called on August 31 between both the Jet Airways management and the union which claims a representation of over 650 of the over 1,000 pilots in Jet Airways.
Referring to the directions of the Regional Labour Commissioner, the statement said "Jet Airways has been in a conciliation process with the pilots. The Regional Labour Commissioner had categorically stated that any strike by the pilots during this pendency of conciliation, would be deemed an illegal act."
