Air India pilots called of their strike on its fifth day, after 180 pilots called in sick in protest of planned pay cuts. The strike caused dozens of flight cancellations and delays and a temporary freeze on new bookings. Captain V.K. Bhalla, who represented the striking pilots said “The strike is being called off in view of the assurances by the Civil Aviation Minister that status quo will continue.”
Jitendra Bhargarva, Air India chief executive said the strikes caused more than $17.3 million in losses and affected about half of their operations. Mr. Bhargarva said they hope to resume operations of 20 per cent of flights so that normalcy can be restored and passengers are not inconvenienced. He said the planned and disputed performance linked salary reductions will not be put in place until there are further discussions with employees. He emphasized the need for cutting costs because expenditures are much higher than income.
