The Hindu : SARS alarm: AI flights in disarray

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 26, 2003

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SARS alarm: AI flights in disarray

By Vinay Kumar

PTI

Porters at the Amritsar railway station on Friday wearing masks as a safety measure in the wake of SARS threat. — PTI

NEW DELHI APRIL 25. With the members of the Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG) refusing to fly to SARS-hit destinations, Air India faces rough weather with some of its flights being affected.

The standoff threw normal schedule into disarray even as AI denied that all its flights had been disrupted.

An AI spokesman said that all flights to the United States, including those to London-New York, London-Chicago and Paris-Newark, were being operated, though behind schedule, to facilitate connecting passengers coming from other parts of the country.

Some of the flights operated with Airbus 310s might be affected because of the limited number of executive pilots, the spokesman said.

Flights to Dubai, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuwait have been cancelled. AI is working out a contingency plan.

The Civil Aviation Minister, Shahnawaz Hussain, said the Pilots' Guild had not given any notice for strike so far.

There was the possibility that almost half of the A-310 flights could be cancelled.

Sources said the agitating pilots were insistent on not flying to Hong Kong and Singapore, which were hit by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Unionised pilots had issued a statement on April 22, insisting that the management should certify that accompanying crew had not flown to the SARS-hit countries in the past 10 days, a demand rejected by the airline.

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