New Delhi, April 29
The agitating Air India pilots showed no signs of returning to work for the third consecutive day today, leaving thousands of passengers grounded.The pilots even ignored stern warning of sacking by the management and the Delhi High Court's decision to initiate contempt proceedings against them and said they were ready to go to jail but won’t soften stand.

The airline asked pilots to resume work by 5 pm on Friday, but the pilots, owing allegiance to the Indian Commercial Pilots Association, said they cannot fly under threat. A substantial number of executive pilots have now joined the 800-odd ICPA members spearheading the strike, boosting their morale.

The management, which went into a huddle after the pilots decided to ignore the "ultimatium", is now contemplating several moves. It is preparing a list of hardliners among the group to take specific action against them.

It may borrow 20 sets of A320 pilots from a private carrier Kingfisher. The domestic fleets of Air India and Kingfisher Airlines are similar and 20 sets of pilots - comprising a commander and a co-pilot - may just about help the cash-strapped national carrier stay afloat in these turbulent times.

Apart from evoking ESMA against the erring pilots, sources say the option of a partial lockout is also open but the government would want to exhaust other options first.Meanwhile, the management's position got a boost today with the Delhi High Court refusing to stay its order derecognising the striking ICPA union.

“It is clearly evident that the conduct of pilots is brazen and willful and smacks of sheer arrogance,” the court said, adding, “There is complete lack of respect for the court orders.”

The Bench referred the matter to the Chief Justice of the High Court for further action by an appropriate Division Bench. While passing the order, agencies quoted the judge as saying: “This conduct of pilots is covered in the definition of the criminal contempt of court” and “such persons are liable to face appropriate proceedings under the law.” 

The High Court had on Thursday castigated the striking pilots for defying its order to immediately call off the agitation and had also issued notices to IPCA office-bearers seeking replies as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against them.

The court had warned that the property of their trade union would be attached if they did not return to work immediately.ICPA chief AS Bhinder, however, said the agitating pilots would resume duty only after the management “makes concrete and time-bound commitments to their demands.” ICPA demands include a higher-fixed component in their salary, a CBI probe into alleged mismanagement and removal of CMD Arvind Jadhav, holding him completely responsible for the airlines’ “financial mess”.

The cash-strapped carrier is losing Rs four crore per day due to the strike. However, the sources said this figure might be more as the airline had liabilities towards payment of installments of new and leased aircraft and the salary of its employees.

They say that the airline had lost approximately Rs 27 crore in the past three days due to the strike which forced it to cancel at least 280 flights. The airline, which normally operates 320 flights on a daily basis, cancelled 57 flights on Wednesday, 96 on Thursday and at least 126 today, an official said here.