NEW DELHI – Air India pilots demanding more pay are on strike for a
fifth day in defiance of a court order to return to work and spare the
airline from further losses.
The strike has
forced India's national carrier to stop taking new bookings and to
cancel all but 40 of its scheduled 165 flights Sunday. It has forced
after similar cancelations each day since the strike started Wednesday.
The
airline is also coping by hiring chartered flights for some routes. It
says the action is now costing around 12 million rupees ($2.67 million)
a day.
The Delhi High Court had ordered the 800
striking pilots last week to call off their "brazen" strike. It
launched contempt of court proceedings Saturday when the pilots refused
to go back to work. AP
