Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh on Monday refused to budge from his stand on the “illegal” Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) strike, stating that the management would only take back the sacked pilots, if they called off the agitation.
“They had not issued any notice before going on strike. Even the Delhi high court has ruled that the strike is illegal…but the pilots are adamant. This shows that they don’t even pay heed to the court’s observations,” he said. He added that the Centre was open to talks with the IPG.
“We will reinstate the pilots on a case-to-case basis, if they call off the strike,” Mr Singh said, adding, “They went on a strike when the airline was going through a dire financial condition and was on the brink of a turnaround after the government had announced an infusion of `30,000 crores.”
He said the management would be taking a decision on hiring commanders and expatriate pilots to tackle the staff shortage, soon.