Air India pilots call off strike

Air India dodged yet another crippling impasse on Saturday as at least 40 pilots called off a protest after being assured by the management of the heavily debt-ridden flag carrier that their salaries will be paid out by March.

At least 40 pilots had called in sick on Saturday morning over supposed non-payment of their dues, disrupting flight operations of the beleaguered cash-strapped airline in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Passengers of the national airline faced difficulties as at least 52 Air India flights, including some from and to international destinations, were cancelled on Saturday.

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) office-bearers held a meeting with the airline management, as the erstwhile Indian Airline pilots association that allowances of many pilots for the past six months had not been paid out yet.

"Things have been sorted out. The management has assured us that they would pay a part of due allowances by 20th of this month, a part of rest by 20th February and clear our dues by March," an ICPA official was quoted as saying.

Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Saturday said that the government is working hard to ´resolve the problem´.

"The employees have a problem, hey have not been paid for one-two months. Allowances have not been paid for quite a few months now. We understand their problem but Air India´s finances are in a bad condition. Their accounts were frozen yesterday" Singh said.

Last May, Air India, that has been grappling with a debt worth $4 billion, had lost Rs 150 crores in a 10-day-strike by pilots.

A government report in December said the total debt of India´s airlines is expected to hit $20 billion in the year ending March.