Sunday, Apr 27, 2003
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By Arunkumar Bhatt
The airline has warned action against 50 others stating that it had no choice. ``We cannot allow any employee to hold the airline and the public to ransom,'' said an Air-India spokesman. The drastic action followed the declaration of the Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG) that it would consider withdrawal of its directive to its members not to fly only if it was satisfied with the preventive measures against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome after discussions with the Union Health Minister, Sushma Swaraj. The IPG, which is the trade union of Air India pilots, had directed its members on Friday not to fly the planes unless the management certified that the cabin crew on board had not flown to the SARS-affected sectors in the past 10 days. The directive has disrupted AI flight schedules and caused immense hardships to thousands of passengers. The Civil Aviation Secretary, Roy Paul, who is also the Chairman of AI, and senior Ministry officials had met the members of the managing committee of the IPG, led by Capt. Kennith Khan. Mr. Paul told the IPG members that their ``directive'' lacked merit and justification and should be withdrawn forthwith, said an official statement. He told the pilots that the World Health Organisation, the IATA and the Central Government had been categorical that there was no risk involved in a crew member being in transit. They were told that the WHO had told a meeting of the airlines of the Asia Pacific region that over 200 million passengers had boarded planes since the outbreak of SARS and that there had been less than five cases of possible transmission of SARS in the cabin. Even these cases had occurred before the screening procedures were put in place at various international airports. Mr. Paul gave the IPG a few hours' time to withdraw the directive. The IPG said that it had gone to the meeting with the AI chairman with an ``open mind'' and with ``no preconditions'' but the management imposed the precondition that the IPG withdraw its directive within three hours. ``Since the chairman has imposed preconditions, we are compelled to impose our preconditions,'' it said. The IPG conditions include verification of the preventive measures in a meeting with the Union Health Minister and Air India's declaration that the pilots' action does not amount to a strike. Meanwhile, AI declared that it had made a contingency plan and revised 22 flights, and would consider taking ``disciplinary action'' against the pilots failing to resume duty. The airline had declared yesterday that it would maintain most of its Europe and the U.S.-bound schedules with the help of its executive pilots who are not `unionised.' AI has 360 pilots on its roll of whom 159 are in executive positions and are not IPG members. But most of these pilots can fly only the Boeing 747 aircraft and not the Airbus 310.
No night halt for IA pilots in Singapore
An Indian Airlines pilot told The Hindu that IA had taken two immediate steps — suspension of night halts at Singapore and operating of only ``quick return'' flights to that country. The cabin crew do not disembark in the latter case. The aircraft go to Bangkok for the night halt.
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