The pilots of
Air India
have only problems and more problems. They don't get their salaries for months
or not quite regularly, they don't get their promotions in time, they suffer
from career regression and they don't get the benefits they are right royally
entitled to. Domestic Indian Airlines and international Air India got
merged indeed in 2007, but the communal divide between the two erstwhile sets
of pilots only accentuated over time. The two communities compete still for the
perks and opportunities like for example flying the forthcoming Dreamliner Boeing 787 which figured in the list of strike demands too and baby-cry on missing any. The pilots have been suffering
so badly that they are forced to put personal issues first and company or
national interests later. How sad!
So they did not
approach the Air India management for representing or deliberating on their
problems, because they hold the management as the culprit for all their ills.
They felt they were the best bets for managing their own problems.
So they did not
approach the Government of India for negotiating their demands either, because
they proudly hold the view that any talks with the government is an extremely
routine procedure and thus they get no pulling force to get their demands through.
So they looked
towards their most loyal passengers to get going bang-on. Their May Strike-Fest of 2011 was a huge turbulence and so they decided to make it an annual event.
After all those years of experience they know the importance of the month of May
only too well. In this month, known as the period of summer rush, their
passengers visit native places and make holiday plans for both domestic and
international sectors. The passengers book well in advance as they know that
come May all flights, trains and even buses get full and getting a ticket
at the last minute becomes almost impossible. The pilots understand this and so
they ensure that all passengers of their cancelled flights due to their Fest
get helplessly stranded and remain stranded. They think they can never expect
get a better platform than this to bargain for their righteous personal
interests and aspirations.
The Air India
Pilots' May-Strike Fest-2012 has already completed a magnificent week and has
entered the ninth day today. There seems to be no end to the
continuing revelries yet.
How long would
Air India continue to be a 'national pride' at the cost of the nation, at the
cost of all the hapless passengers, at the cost of all Government of India
staff whose travel destiny remains hostage to Air India and, to the benefit of
the influential and the powerful whose majestic travel on Air India translates
into more costs for the nation? Does democracy give the right-to-blackmail to
any interested party or individuals? Why democracy fails to prevent a strike by
an interested party even after a High Court order declares it illegal?
By the way, what
is a democracy? Sorry...you see...people tend to get confused in this great democratic
atmosphere of all the toon-toona-toons by all the aflatoons in
the melee of all the cartoons.
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