Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh Tuesday reiterated the government’s stand that the demands of the striking Air India pilots will be considered only after they returned to duty unconditionally.

The minister conveyed this in his reply to a letter sent from Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) which had asked reinstatement of 101 terminated pilots, recognition of IPG and assurance of promotion from first officer pilot to commander within six years’ time, as preconditions to end the strike.

The government had earlier said reinstatement could happen on a case-by-case basis.
The stand-off between the pilots and the management entered the 22nd day Tuesday, pushing up the losses to more than Rs.310 crore.

“Losses are on account of ticket cancellation, unused labour and bulk of Boeing 777 fleet being grounded.

We expect to stabilise our operations and cut the losses to less than Rs.5 crore a day from June 2,” an Air India official told IANS.

“Bookings on our international flights have stabilized. We have placed maximum number of seats in the lowest price bracket which has helped bookings pick up in the domestic sector and international sector,” he said.

The airline decided last week to reduce fares by placing a large chunk of seats under the lowest fare category to augment its share in the domestic and international sectors.

Apart from the new fare scheme, the airline will shift to a truncated interim schedule from June 1, dropping seven international destinations including Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul and Toronto.
The airline will operate only 38 services instead of the regular 45.

Currently, the carrier is operating through a contingency plan under which a bare minimum number of flights are maintained by clubbing operations to various destinations in Europe and the US.

The airline is said to be examining several proposals to restore the international operations which includes wet leasing aircraft from other airlines.

The proposal, according to officials, will include renting of aircraft with pilots and cabin crew.
Trouble started for the airline May 8 when pilot-members of the Indian Pilots Guild took mass sick leave, protesting the move to provide Boeing-787 Dreamliner training to pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines.