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The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), spearheading the 16-day-old strike, on Wednesday expressed willingness to talk “right now” with Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh if the 101 sacked Air India pilots were taken back.

In their second press conference since their agitation began on May 8, IPG Joint Secretary Tauseef Mukadam said, “We are absolutely ready to talk to the Honourable Minister...We are willing to go right now.”

Asked what will be the “way out”, he said, “We don’t want our core demands to be met right now. Take back the pilots and give us an assurance that these demands will be discussed… We are not putting a gun on anyone’s head or ever intend to do so. We are willing to join duty right now. It can be done in 15 minutes.”

Mr. Mukadam and three of his IPG colleagues said they were also willing to write “another letter” to the Minister seeking time from him to discuss the issues, adding that they had sought time from him earlier too when they began the strike.

He said the strike last year by the national carrier’s second pilots’ union — Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) — ended after all the sacked pilots were taken back and de-recognition of their union revoked.

“We are not asking for anything more than what happened last year,” Mr. Mukadam said, charging the airline management with “misleading” the Ministry and the Minister on the issues involved in their protest.

The press conference came on a day when Air India management filed a contempt petition against them in the Delhi High Court, saying the pilots had failed to comply with its order restraining them from undertaking the “illegal” stir.

Terming their protest illegal, the government also blamed the agitators for not coming to the negotiating table, with Mr. Singh saying, “We have again and again said we are willing to talk. But they don’t want to.

“They are not willing to talk unconditionally. They have conditions. It is an illegal strike and there are no issues in this strike,” Mr. Singh said, adding that the Air India management was taking “whatever action they need to take.”

Irregularities

Stepping up their attack on Air India management, the IPG leaders also accused it of major financial irregularities in leasing of planes, alleging that the airline had incurred a loss of Rs. 4,324.28 crore over five years from 2005 on account of leased aircraft operations alone.

Later, reacting to the allegation, the Civil Aviation Minister told reporters, “If they make any credible complaint, we will examine it and take action.

“What they have said in the press, they haven’t given to me as a complaint. Any credible complaint will be looked into,” he said.

Mr. Mukadam and his IPG colleagues also claimed that 18 wide-body aircraft of Air India were grounded at Delhi airport while the airline was planning to wet-lease planes to run its long-haul international operations.

They also accused the management of “reneging” on their promises about their demands relating to Dreamliner training and career progression.

“There is a clear disconnect between what the Minister has said in Parliament that there will be no victimisation and what the management was doing by sacking 101 pilots,” he said.

“Despite all out efforts to reach out to the management, they have refused to respond so far. Instead of responding to our overtures, they further terminated services of 30 more pilots, taking the total to 101,” he said.

Mr. Mukadam also claimed eight pilots, who recently underwent training to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliners in Singapore, “returned and join the stir” and said out of 444 IPG members, 424 were participating in the strike. The agitators have been reporting ‘sick’ and not joining duty.

Asked about the fitness test which is mandatory after 14 days of remaining sick, he said, “We have to undergo such routine medical check-ups every year. It is not that we have to compulsorily appear before the medical board on the fifteenth day itself. We have to do it before we join duty”.