AI says flight operations normal, woos passengers

Mumbai, Oct 1 (PTI) Following withdrawal of the pilots'
agitation, India's national carrier, Air India, Thursday said
normalcy has been restored in its operations, both in
international and domestic routes.

"All flights are running as per schedule and the on-time
performance of all our domestic flights was 89 per cent till
1130 hours," Air India's Executive Director (Corporate
Communication), Jitendra Bhargava, told reporters here.

In New Delhi, 18 of its morning flights, both domestic
and international, took off from the IGI airport.

"Flight operations have returned to normal and 18 of our
morning flights have taken off for various destination as
per schedule," an airlines official in New Delhi said.

Air India has now plans to increase the number of seats
offered on special fares to woo more passengers and restore
their confidence in the airline, the official said.

A section of Air India's executive pilots had been on a
five-day agitation forcing the airline to cancel several
flights. The pilots had withdrawn their agitation yesterday
following assurances from the management that their demands
would be looked into.

Bhargava said the airline's long-haul flight Mumbai-New
York, which was cancelled yesterday would also operate today.

"Some of the senior officials are at the airport to look
after the passengers and restore confidence in them," he said
in Mumbai.

The pilots, who had gone on sick leave, are now back at
work and reporting for medical check-ups as per regulations of
the DGCA, he said. (MORE) PTI