Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: With no immediate resolution of pilots’ strike in sight, Air India on Wednesday decided to call in retired pilots to operate domestic flights, reports suggested.
“The government is clear that Air India has to operate. These could include some routes in the north-eastern sector which may not be lucrative but are remotely located and thereby require connectivity,” a civil aviation ministry official was quoted as saying.
On Tuesday, the Delhi HC had served notices to nine pilots of Air India for criminal contempt by not obeying an earlier restraining order which had asked them to immediately end their strike that has now entered the seventh day.
A two-member bench of the court issued the notice to the nine pilots who are office bearers of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), the union that has called the strike, for ignoring a stay order on the agitation last Friday.
"All the nine should remain present in the court while the criminal contempt proceedings shall be carried out May 25," said the two-member bench of Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Veena Birbal.
Close to half of Air India`s 1,600 pilots, who were earlier working for the now defunct Indian Airlines have been on strike, demanding parity in pay with their counterparts in Air India. Indian Airlines was merged into Air India in 2007.
