Hundreds of passengers in several airports across the country bound for foreign trips faced woes as Air India cancelled its international flights after a section of pilots went on a flash strike since Monday.
More than 150 pilots have not reported for duty since Monday, throwing the entire international flight schedule haywire.
Outbound passengers in Delhi, Kerala, Mumbai and Amritsar are facing difficulties as their flights have been abruptly cancelled by Air India management.
Air India has cancelled 13 international flights, that include eight flights to the Middle East on Air India Express. Four of these flights were to take off from Kerala. Kozhikode-Dammam flight IX 381 and Kozhikode-Dubai flight IX 343 have been cancelled.
The Air India Pilots Guild, which has been derecognized by the management, has been demanding promotion for pilots and change in training schedule for dreamliner Boeing 787 aircraft.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said, it was now up to the pilots to decide whether to run the company or to close it down.
Ajit Singh termed the strike as illegal and said the government can also shut the airline. He told the striking pilots that they should first decide what they want -- either keep the national carrier afloat orshut it down.