Air India pilots strike, causing multiple flight cancellations

NEW DELHI , India(AP):

Air India pilots demanding more pay, defied a court order yesterday, to end their strike and refused to work for a fifth day, forcing the beleaguered national carrier to cancel three-fourths of its scheduled flights.

The airline said the strike that started last Wednesday was now costing it around 12 million rupees ($2.7 million) a day.

Air India cancelled all but 40 of its 165 scheduled flights yesterday, leaving thousands more passengers stranded around the country after similar cancellations each day since Wednesday.

It said that while 90 per cent of domestic routes were affected, international flights were still operating between India and the United States, Europe, China and the Middle East. The airline has been hiring chartered flights for some routes.

Last week, the Delhi High Court ordered the 800 striking pilots to call off their action, saying it was "brazen and smacking of sheer arrogance," and launched contempt of court proceedings last Saturday when they refused to go back to work.

The pilots are demanding higher pay, an investigation into alleged mismanagement leading to losses of over 160 billion rupees ($3.6 billion), and removal of Arvind Jadhav as the airline's managing director. The Indian Commercial Pilot Association said last Saturday it had no choice but to continue its strike since neither the government nor Air India's management had invited the pilots for talks.