MUMBAI: National carrier Air India on Thursday suspended passenger bookings for flights to the United States, Europe and Canada because of a strike by pilots.
The airline, which was already losing nearly $2 million a day, has been forced to cancel a number of international flights since its pilots began a wildcat strike by reporting in sick on Monday night.
"We are suspending booking of tickets for west-bound flights till May 15," Air India spokesman K. Swaminathan told AFP.
"There is no use of taking bookings if flights may not operate."
The pilots are protesting against a decision to train former Indian Airlines pilots, who moved to Air India when the two firms merged in 2007, to fly new Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
The strikers say the plan threatens their career prospects.
Air India has sacked 45 of the hundreds of striking pilots since Monday. The spokesman said they were fired because "their actions were illegal". The airline has also refused to recognise the pilots' union.
The strike comes at a time when Air India is facing mounting problems due to rising fuel prices, competition from low-cost rivals and a record of labour disputes.
The pilots ruled out halting their protest even as the Delhi High Court this week ordered them to stop their "illegal strike".
"We have tried speaking to the (aviation) ministry but they have not responded," pilots' union spokesman Captain Tauseef Mukadam told AFP, as he vowed the strike would go on.
The airline, which has 1,500 pilots, normally flies 400 flights daily, including 50 on international routes.
Comments
Comments are closed.