Action to be taken against Air India pilots who falsely reported sick

New Delhi/Mumbai, May 15 (PTI) Taking a tough stand, the Indian government today said action will be taken against Air India pilots who have falsely reported sick and not resumed work, as the stir by over 200 pilots belonging to the Indian Pilots Guild entered the eighth day leading to cancellation of 10 international flights. A medical summary issued by India's Civil Aviation ministry said most of the AI pilots, who called in sick, were neither found at home by doctors sent by the airline nor reported to doctors empanelled by the carrier. Their mobile phones were also unreachable. Indicating that this was suspected all along, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will take action against them. The airline has already sacked 71 striking pilots, who have been protesting against rescheduling of training programme of Dreamliner and issues related to their career progression. Meanwhile, seven Air India unions in a letter to Singh have offered to mediate to end the deadlock. A forum of AI Service Engineers' Association, AI Aircraft Engineers' Association, AI Officers' Association, AI Cabin Crew Association, AI Employees' Union, AI Engineer's Association and Air Corporation Employee's Union have in a joint letter to the minister sought his intervention as "head of the family". "At this juncture, of total deadlock, we plead your esteemed office to be proactive and if required, we are ready to offer our services under your direction to be mediators between the Civil Aviation Ministry/Air India Management and the Indian Pilots Guild," they said. The unions held the 2007 merger of the two state-owned carriers - Air India and Indian Airlines, the latter primarily a domestic operator - responsible for the present mess. "...the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines resulted into failure. A series of strike notices and two disruptions (last year's ICPA strike and the ongoing IPG agitation) are the outcome of the ill-conceived merger," the letter said. Initiating a contingency plan, AI operated Delhi-Toronto, Delhi-New York flights. "We hope to operate more flights tonight," an Air India spokesperson said. AI has extended its bar on bookings for its West-bound flights till Thursday and is mulling temporarily halting its international operations if the stir continued. PTI