Flight operations of Air India’s low-cost subsidiary carrier Air India Express have been significantly hit, with about 23 pilots “reporting sick” in the past few days. So far, there have been 12 flight cancellations of Air India Express in the past few days while nine more planned flight cancellations are likely in the coming days, Government sources confirmed on Tuesday. However, flight operations of the parent national carrier Air India have so far not been hit. The Air India management held detailed talks with agitated pilots in New Delhi on Tuesday but no solution has been found so far. Many of these Air India pilots working in Air India Express and flying international routes belong to the Indian Pilots Guild. A large number of these pilots are upset over the airline’s move to send domestic pilots too for training on the Boeing 787 dreamliner aircraft, 27 of which are being acquired by Air India. The IPG has also moved a petition in the Bombay HC challenging the decision of management to draw equal number of pilots from the erstwhile AI and IA for training for the new Boeing 787.
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Govt relief to prasar Bharati employees
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, Nov. 1
The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved amendments to the law governing Prasar Bharati, providing relief to the employees of the national broadcaster, making it clear that recruitments done between November 1997 and October 2007 will be considered as “deemed deputation” till retirement.
The Cabinet gave its nod to the amendment to Section 11(2) of the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill by the addition of “and until their retirement” at the end of the section.
“This will make the status of employees recruited between November 23, 1997 and October 5, 2007 — they are on deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati till their retirement — absolutely clear and unambiguous,” an official statement here said.
The proposal to this effect was pending for the past several months and relates to posts of the Indian Information Service, the Central Secretariat Service or any cadre outside Akashwani and Doordarshan but connected to Prasar Bharati.
The proposed bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha in August last year and was referred to the standing committee.