In what only can be described as good news, Air India pilots have called off their strike action after two months of protests.
The dispute centred around training over the pilots flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with over 400 pilots involved in the action, and 101 pilots fired.
The action has been deemed by the Delhi High Court as “illegal” and a return to work issued on Tuesday. Air India pilots will return to work within 48 hours. Air India management will consider the demands of the pilots “sympathetically”, although no actual resolution was given at the time of the decision to end the strike.
It’s been a expensive exercise for Air India with flights cancelled by the bucket-load, and costs spiralling because of it.
The dispute centred around the selection of Indian Airlines Pilots (who merged with Air India in 2007) to fly the 787 over Air India (Pre-2007) pilots, with Air India (Pre-2007) pilots saying they should have priority for training on the new planes.
For those pilots on strike, they won’t be on front-line duty yet, as it will take a month for compulsory medicals, ground training, simulator training and flight training before being fit to fly.
Still, at least the strike has ended… until the next one hits.