Air India pilots' problem should be sorted out immediately: BJP

New Delhi, May 10 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday said the issues of the pilots of Air India should be sorted out immediately.

"This issue should be raised in the parliament," Naqvi told media outside parliament.

Taking a strong view of the agitation, the Air India management has so far sacked 36 pilots. he Air India management had earlier argued before the court that inter-union rivalry between erstwhile Air India and the Indian Airlines was the reason behind the strike.

According to the management, there were two aircrafts at the centre of the controversy - the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Boeing 777 - and who should be trained on them. The unions were not in agreement whether pilots from Air India or Indian Airlines should be trained on the two aircraft.

A decision was taken that the training on the Dreamliner would be in the ratio 1:1 and that had already begun.

Aggrieved by this decision, the Indian Pilots Guild moved the High Court and the Indian Commercial Pilots Association moved the Supreme Court.

On April 23, the Supreme Court said that the training in the 1:1 ratio would continue. Despite this order the Indian Pilots Guild went on strike as a pressure tactic against the training parity.

The Air India management has claimed that the strike has caused hardship to thousands of passengers and huge losses to the airline.

It further pointed out that modus operandi adopted by the pilots was to report sick. (ANI)