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Thursday, Apr 28, 2011
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National

Air India to give full refund to passengers

Vinay Kumar

— Photo: PTI

Air India pilots stage a demonstration outside the Indian Commercial Pilots Association office in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: In the event of flight disruptions, cancellation or combination or delay of more than one hour, Air India would give full refund to the passengers, irrespective of the fare rules. The airline has also decided that no penalties would be levied on tickets refunded, revalidated, reissued or rebooked on a subsequent flight due to flight disruptions.

Terming the striking pilots' demands “very unreasonable, unjustified”, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said they were trying to “pose a threat to the institution”. As soon as the news of the strike came, he asked Air India Chairman Arvind Jadhav to deal “firmly'' with it. “A section of the pilots cannot behave in such an irresponsible manner at a time when the government was helping Air India's restructuring and turnaround plan,” he said.

Mr. Ravi said post-merger demands relating to salary dispute had been discussed by him with all trade unions in Mumbai. He appealed to all employees to cooperate with the management in tiding over the tight financial situation. “The idea of a third party going into all such demands was suggested and accepted by all. The Justice Dharmadhikari Committee is looking into the demands. As soon as it gives its report, the Government and Air India management intend to make the integration process smooth so that all 41,000 employees have better working conditions.''

The agitating pilots said they were focusing on “fiscal mismanagement'' that had resulted in financial losses to the airline and demanded a CBI probe.

Terming the strike “unfortunate and ill-advised”, the Air India CMD said “now when such aggressive efforts are under way to resolve issues concerning every section of the employees, this abrupt action by the ICPA was certainly uncalled for”.

No-frills carrier SpiceJet in a statement said it had directed its teams across all airports to accept and accommodate Air India passengers on request from the national carrier.

The ICPA gave the letter to the management late on Tuesday night intimating its decision to go ahead with the strike after tripartite conciliation talks before the Chief Labour Commissioner failed. The ICPA, which has a strength of over 800 pilots of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, held the CMD “solely responsible for the financial mess'' in the airline.

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