Flash strike disrupts AI ops

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, November 8

A flash strike by Air India’s contractual ground-handling staff threw the airline’s schedules out of gear with several flights being delayed by several hours.

Sources said at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, more than 400 contract employees of Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL), the airline’s ground-handling subsidiary, went on a flash strike from late Wednesday night demanding Diwali bonus.

“Eight domestic flights and 16 international flights were delayed by several hours because of the flash strike,” an airport official said.

Passengers took to social media to complain of complete chaos as they waited for several hours for their flights to be announced. Pictures put up on social media showed tired passengers squatting on the floor at Mumbai’s plush airport terminal.

Air India officials said later in the day that they were holding talks with AIATSL union leaders to resolve the issue. The ground-handling subsidiary of the country’s national flag carrier has 5,000 employees, including those on contract, according to officials. By afternoon today, the airline called permanent staff on its rolls from their homes to help passengers check-in on their flights.