Air India Flights Hit As Ground Staff Strikes

Mumbai, April 6 -- Two Air India flights out of Mumbai were delayed on Thursday by around 45 minutes after a section of the groundhandling workers staged a flash agitation over pending salaries.

Airport officials said the two flights, one to Shanghai and the other headed to Cairo, were delayed because about 100 workers did not report to work. The problem was, however, resolved after the airline management agreed to clear some parts of the pending salaries by Saturday.

"The salaries were delayed owing to back-to-back public holidays. The workers have resumed work," said an AI spokesperson.

The spokesperson, however, denied that the flights were delayed owing to the agitation. "Flights can get delayed for various reasons, but the demonstration was not responsible for the delay," said the spokesperson without explaining the cause of the late departures.

Airline sources said since most of these workers are migrant labourers, the delay in payments had made their survival difficult. "These workers do not belong to any recognised trade union. They are struggling to continue with the job because most of them have come from small towns outside Mumbai," said a staff member with the airline requesting anonymity.

Last week, eight AI unions comprising pilots, engineers and cabin crew had called off an indefinite strike after the airline offered them a phase-wise plan to clear pending salaries since October. According to the disbursement plan, the airline will start clearing outstanding salaries from April 25. Published by HT Syndication with permission from HT Mumbai.

Copyright 2012 HT Media Ltd.All Rights Reserved