UAE-India flights disrupted in Jet Airways pilot protest

About 200 passengers were left stranded in apparent sick-leave walkout by Jet Airways pilots.

ABU DHABI // About 200 airline passengers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi missed flights to India yesterday because of a protest by pilots at Jet Airways, the company said. About a third of the Indian carrier's planes were grounded. The dispute over the fate of two sacked pilots affected 115 out of 346 flights on Tuesday, including three in the UAE.

The two pilots were fired for "working against the company's interest," the Associated Press reported, citing the company's spokesman. The remaining pilots staged what appeared to a sick-leave call-in. "It's obviously a co-ordinated, for lack of a better word, sabotage," said Rammohan Krishamaswamy, the company's Gulf and Middle East manager. The company operates five daily round trips between Dubai and India, as well as two between Abu Dhabi and India.

A flight from Abu Dhabi to New Delhi, at 11.50pm on Monday, was cancelled. One scheduled for 12.35am on Tuesday had already been cancelled because of low demand during Ramadan, Mr Krishamaswamy said. Flights from Dubai to Mumbai at 12.35am and 10.50pm yesterday were also cancelled. Flights to Chennai at 2.25pm and Hyderabad at 12.50pm went ahead. A trip from Sharjah to Cochin at 2.15pm was also completed.

Mr Krishamaswamy said the company would try to accommodate passengers affected by the delays in its other planned flights or on other airlines, as well as offer flight reschedules at no penalty. Individuals will be granted a full refund of their tickets if they ask for it, he said. Automated SMS messages were being sent to customers to keep them updated on the status of their flights, in addition to hourly updates on the company's India website with details of cancelled voyages.

"For the time being we're not taking any reservations for the affected routes," said Sonia Saran, an executive in the company's corporate communications department. "Definitely it has affected the overall operation of the airline." There was confusion as to whether the alleged protest might continue today. "Since it's not technically a strike and they just called in sick, they will not be able to continue being sick without seeing the company doctor," Mr Krishamaswamy said. "The situation is very fluid."

He said that "a couple of hundred" passengers in the UAE were affected, but declined to clarify whether this included both inbound and outbound flights. He said demand for outbound flights from the UAE during Ramadan was low, with the bulk of passengers inbound to the country after returning from holidays. In a statement posted on its website, JA insisted that any strike was illegal because the company was in negotiations to resolve the dispute. It said the Regional Labour Commissioner had categorically stated that any strike by the pilots during conciliation process would be deemed illegal. The Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, which regulates labour disputes, prohibits strikes and lockouts during conciliation talks, calling them "unnecessary and inexpedient."

Dubai Airport said it had been aware of the dispute since Tuesday morning, but that it was an airline issue and the airport's management was not involved. [e-mail]