The Silicon Review ^Asia

People were stranded at Mumbai airport on Thursday amid festive season as Air India flights were delayed. Flights were delayed due to a sudden strike held by the contractual staffs of the Air India Transport Services Ltd (AIASTL).

According to airport officials, the contractual employees started the sudden flash strike because they were not paid bonus for Diwali and to press for their demand to reinstate a few workers who had been retrenched.

The national carrier’s wholly owned subsidiary, Air India Transport Services Ltd provides ground handling services to Air India across airports in the country. The subsidiary employs almost 5000 staffs, including the contractual workers.

According to a spokesperson from Air India, some flights got delayed because of a sudden industrial situation by AIATSL employees at Mumbai airport. Air India is assessing the situation and all efforts are being made to minimise delays or disruptions.

The permanent staffs have been deputed to normalise the situation. Only early morning flights from Mumbai were delayed by two hours.

According to a spokesperson from the Mumbai International Airport, eight domestic and sixteen international flights were delayed. The average delay is about two hours.

To solve the issue, members of AIATSL management are negotiating with the striking workers.

It will be better for Air India to resolve the issue as soon as possible otherwise the passengers will have to suffer unnecessarily.