Air Sahara pilots stay off planes

No sign of pilots' strike dying down

BY A CORRESPONDENT
February 15, 2006

The Air Sahara pilot crisis is showing no signs of dying down, with the airline still struggling to bring operations back on track. Air Sahara flights continued to be affected for the third consecutive day, resulting in cancellation of over 15 flights and stranding of over 2,500 passengers.

The Air Sahara management was still holding talks with the striking pilots, even as over 20 pilots stayed away from work, this time citing health reasons.

Jet Airways recently acquired Air Sahara in a $500 million deal. Air Sahara pay packet is believed to be lower than that Jet Airways and Sahara employees were believed to be seeking to bridge the gap.

Air Sahara pilots had also stated that their seniority should be kept in mind while employee integration took place. Moreover, they also demanded that they should be allowed to fly on routes they flew earlier, and should not be demoted or asked to handle the secondary routes.

The airline's flights have been affected due to the strike and the central government is believed to be planning to step in to find an early solution. Air Sahara's management held talks with the protesting pilots, but has failed to find an immediate solution.

Today's situation was slightly better than that a day before, when over 30 pilots had stayed off work, resulting in the airline canceling over 35 flights.

The airline had also stopped booking of passengers on flights from Mumbai and Kolkata for the next two days, and was also looking at putting passengers on other flights.