Air India (AI) is flying through turbulence! It is not about a particular flight. Air India has been facing a series of strikes recently. Do you know the reason for it? Channel IM brings you the crux of the hot and happening!
Privatised carrier Air India is currently in the midst of its first labour strike as about 1,700 aircraft maintenance technicians working with a government-owned engineering company that handles maintenance and repair jobs for the airline went for an indefinite ‘tools down agitation’ on Tuesday. In January, the technicians had called for agitation after writing to the AIESL management, but postponed it after talks began between them. Another strike call was proposed last month, but was postponed again.
Their demands include salary revision, employment contract revision, employment contract renewal, and inclusion of Dearness allowance. The stir began at 9:00 a.m. A few AI flights from Delhi including those to Mumbai, Surat and Pune were delayed because of the agitation. The flight status tracking apps show that three flights were delayed by 30 minutes to 2 hours though the reason for the delay is not cited.
As of now, their craft maintenance engineers have stepped in to carry out the job done by the technicians. However, if the agitation continues, more flights could be hit. The technicians who are on strike handle fuelling of aircraft, readying aircraft for departure marshalling and maintenance work. The technicians are employed on a fixed-term contract with Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), a government-owned company that was formerly the engineering subsidiary of AI.
Meanwhile, AIESL sent a termination notice to a few technicians who were on strike stating that “their services were no longer required by the company and their employment contract stands terminated with immediate effect.”
AIESL was a subsidiary of Air India but was not packaged with the airline during its disinvestment. The Centre has plans to separately disinvest AIESL, which has its presence in Delhi, Nagpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram.
Subscribe and follow Channel IM. Stay tuned For more such trending news.
Also Read: Official Appointment Of N Chandrasekharan As Air India’s New Chairman
