Agitating Air India pilots call for long term solution

MUMBAI: After the press conference addressed by the civil aviation minister Ajit Singh in Delhi on Wednesday, the agitating faction of Air India, Indian Pilots Guild ( IPG), about 445 of whom are not reporting to work said that they want a long term resolution of the problems that are facing Air India and that they would want to report back to work if there is a resolution to problems that is not short term.

The Union also wrote a letter to the Air India CMD, Rohit Nandan asking him to intervene to end the impasse. The pilot agitation that has crippled the international operations of Air India causing huge losses to the airline completed a month on Wednesday.

Reacting to a press conference addressed by the minster in which he said that the strike is dead and dusted and the airline wants to hire fresh 100 pilots and expand on international routes, the IPG pilots said that they want to return to work only when many concerns and gaps in the current operations and human resources practices are addressed.

"We believe in long-run profitability and uninterrupted service of Air India for years to come.....Any short term acceptance will leave these issues simmering and unresolved with long term ramifications, including future disruptions across functions and overall organization," the pilots said in a statement.