Aha! My topic
(I'm an aviation journalist)
The strike is well over the 48[SUP]th[/SUP] day.
It has put a whole lot of passengers to great inconvenience and allowed other airlines to manipulate fares to make a killing.
It has tarnished the image of India, it being a national carrier.
The effect of the strike has been minimal to anybody outside AI and its immediate extranet.
Are the pilots justified in their demands?
Are the pilots justified for going on strike?
Somewhat. The pilots had some legitimate grievances (and some not-so-legitimate ones). They went on strike assuming it would be the same as the past - management would talk tough for a few days, then talks would occur, and everybody would end up happy (except for the taxpayer I suppose). This time, that didn't happen. They didn't have their act together until they realized that this wasn't going to happen, and by then it was too late. They lost the PR game. The aam aadmi doesn't support the IPG at all, because they don't understand why the IPG is on strike. And
they don't want to understand why the IPG is on strike.
Is the Govt and the Minister correct in taking the stand the Govt and the Minister has taken?
Not really. It is the Minister's job to get this dispute settled. It is the
management's job to act tough and keep costs down. Whether the minister is doing the "right thing" or not is a topic for a very long discussion - it's not very clear cut. But I think everybody is "right" to some extent (pilots, management, minister, etc), but everyone is also "wrong" to some extent as well.
If the Govt blinks, is there any guarantee that the pilots will not go another strike another day as they have been doing over the years and the Govt blinking first every time?
No. But if the government doesn't blink, there is still no guarantee. Until the management inspires confidence of the employees, strikes will continue happening.
I heard the Minister on TV that the Air India pilots are the highest paid pilots in the world and this could not be refuted by the representative of the Indian Pilots Guild on that show.
It is not completely accurate. The highest seniority pilots are indeed some of the highest paid pilots in the world. The younger, lower seniority captains and first officers are paid slightly less than average for an IATA longhaul operator.
I wonder why people are still buying AI tickets. There bookings should have dried up after 15 days of strike!!
Nobody is booking AI for international routes (which this strike affects). This is because AI has itself closed all booking.
Personally, I would not use AI if unless there is no other choice. What about those cases, where only AI tickets are available?
I personally love AI as a passenger (although I hate it as a taxpayer). No matter how incompetent, corrupt, *insert negative quality*, etc. management is, the airline is great for the passenger. The product is really good, it is reasonably reliable compared to its domestic competitors, and prices are fair.
On domestic legs, AI is always my first choice. Internationally, there is more competition (so more choice), and I fly AI much less often.
If there is no option, then its just the AI way. But you should hedge well against the risk of cancellation!
AI's cancellation rate pre-strike was just fine. Now that operations have stabilized after the strike, the cancellation rate has fallen again.
It is true that closing down would be a good answer.
Not really. It would be devastating in the short run to our country's aviation system, which would have far reaching effects in the economy. And politicians all run for the short term, not the long term good of the country.
Regardless, AI is currently in the midst of a (well designed) restructuring package. Once that is over, AI will operationally be the best carrier in India, assuming the competition don't pull off miracles. Industrial relations are another story, but those will be dealt with eventually too. The current state of the airline simply isn't sustainable.
However, it is also time to teach these chaps you cannot hold the country to ransom.
I wouldn't be so quick to condemn them. The strike was their last resort - they tried to get their grievances sorted out in a variety of different ways earlier.
Ajit Singh said that the pilots should return to work and the AI management would then look into their grievances and take them on re-negotiated terms.
That is not going to happen. No self-respecting union member would cross a picket line without their fellow staff reinstated. It is idiotic to expect this.
AI pilots' stand isn't any more reasonable though. There needs to be compromise somewhere.
I am not too sure, but to me it appeared during the TV debate that these chaps have been sacked since they have disregarded the Court orders too!
AI pilots have disregarded the court order to return to work. AI management have disregarded the court order to conduct talks and sort out grievances before sacking more pilots.
Neither side is "innocent."
. But, the thing is even at the age of 50+ they lacked the empathy they are supposed to show. That was my point, not their attractiveness. Though I wont complain if they had younger Air Hostesses
