Flight disruptions amid Air India strike

Ongoing pilot protests have led to the cancellation of numerous Air India flights.

Travel Insurance News - 10/05/2012

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Reports said that the second day of the ordeal has caused the cancellation of a handful of international routes, including those between India and Singapore, Newark and JFK airport in New York.

The news comes after dozens of the company’s pilots had called in sick amid a row over training programs centred on the forthcoming arrival of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets. The scheme seeks to train pilots from Indian Airlines, a formerly separate carrier that Air India had acquired in late 2007. But protesters say that the new Boeing jets had been ordered prior to the merger between the two carriers so they should be the ones being trained to fly the new aircraft.

The country’s civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh, said that the protests were illegal.

A spokesperson for the carrier confirmed that the protest had caused flight disruptions for passengers travelling between Dehli and New York and Singapore, as well as between Mumbai and Newark. However, he said all other routes remained unaffected and contingency plans have been put in place.

The news comes a month after Air India announced debt restructuring efforts worth some 300bn rupees (£3.7bn) amid ongoing financial turmoil; the funds will be injected into the carrier over the next eight years.

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