Air India relents, offers concessions to striking pilots: Sources

MUMBAI: Offering olive branch to the striking pilots, Air India management on Sunday agreed to withdraw incentive-cut and to set up a committee to look into the PLI modalities, sources said.

Earlier, the national carrier management on Sunday held talks with a section of striking pilots based in Mumbai. However, bulk of the agitators across the country stayed away from talks demanding withdrawal of productivity-linked incentives (PLI) first.

"Our chief (Air India chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav) is playing a game by inviting only one group of pilots," Captain V K Bhalla, a senior executive pilot leading the agitating pilots, said.

"But these pilots are prudent enough to understand the issue. This will not work at all," Bhalla, a Delhi-based pilot, said earlier in the day.

"The management had asked us to join for the talks but we have refused. We have told them to first pay our three months dues and also restore the PLI," he said.



He also claimed that over 50 flights have been cancelled, while the management has claimed 26 flights as cancelled.

Cancelled flights include seven on international routes, according to the airline officials as striking pilots continued their agitation for the second consecutive day.

"International flights from Delhi to Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Kathmandu and a few other destinations were cancelled as some pilots put on duty did not report for work," a senior Air India official said.

Eleven flights were cancelled Saturday as several pilots failed to report for duty.

The beleaguered carrier had Wednesday decided to cut the productivity linked incentives of employees by 25 to 50 per cent as part of its cost cutting measures.