90% of Air India Gulf flights cancelled

Almost 90 per cent of all Air India flights to the UAE and the Gulf have been affected following protests by disgruntled pilots, senior airline official said this morning.

Abhay Pathak, Air India's Regional Manager for the Gulf and Mena told Emirates 247 this morning that alternate arrangements for passengers stranded in the Gulf include routing them through other airlines apart from deployment of wide-bodied aircrafts to flights operating to New Delhi and Mumbai.

“We have been under difficult circumstance but we are trying to do our best to help passengers are not affected. Almost 90 per cent of our operations have been affected,” said Pathak.

Pilots of Air India have been protesting since April 26 midnight demanding pay parity and higher wages.

“We do not know when the current stalemate will come to an end. Efforts are on from our side. Until the situation improves we have deployed wide bodied Boeing 747s to transport passengers to New Delhi and Mumbai. We are also using the services of Air India Express,” he added.

Meanwhile, according to reports during the last three days, all Air India's daily flights to Dubai and Sharjah from Kozhikode were cancelled and the backlog being cleared with the help of additional flights.

Reports also indicate that many of the flights are being piloted by contract and executive pilots, who are not on the payroll of the airline.

According to Air India the strike byits pilots seeking higher emoluments is illegal and unjustified.

The airline has confirmed that all bookings in the Middle East and Africa will be on hold for the next three days.

A senior judge has been appointed by the India government to look into the scenario to ensure a quick fix to the concerns ofthe pilots as well as Air India.

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