For Air India's agitating pilots, sacking may prove to be a blessing in disguise.
As of Saturday, the troubled national carrier had terminated the services of over 70 of its pilots, whose mass action of reporting sick has thrown its operations into chaos.
Aviation experts feel that since they have been served with a termination notice, the pilots will not be required to serve the mandatory six-month notice period.
Meanwhile, the pilots' strike entered the fifth day on Saturday, with over 15 domestic and international flights cancelled.
Pilots belonging to Indian Pilots Guild are on strike over training of erstwhile Indian Airlines' pilots on the Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner' planes. The company is getting ready to receive the first of 27 such planes later this month.
Mr Debashish Saha, Council Member, Aeronautical Society of India, said, “With termination letters in hand, the pilots can easily join any airline in the world immediately. On the other hand, Air India is set to lose if no one rejoins once the strike is over. In the absence of pilots, aircraft will be grounded. So, this is a win-win situation for them.”
Experts believe the solution to such a situation lies in termination of pilots' licence to fly. With such action, the pilots will realise the serious consequences of their action. The Government, being the owner of the airline and custodian of passengers' welfare, needs to be proactive, Mr Saha said.
Industry chamber Assocham has urged to Government to take stringent action against the pilots. In a statement, the chamber said it has become a ‘practice' for the unions of Air India to declare frequent strikes resulting in heavy losses to the already bleeding national carrier, and also providing an opportunity to other airlines to hike tariffs manifold, thereby causing harassment to passengers.
Air India employees need to realise that they belong to the service industry and all issues need to be sorted out through talks , it added.