Air India pilots have said they will end their 58-day-long strike soon, after the Delhi High Court asked all striking pilots to end their agitation within 48 hours.
The court had also said that the 434 pilots on strike must submit letters to the management indicating their willingness to get back to work.
The Delhi High Court had asked the management to “sympathetically consider” reinstating the 101 pilots who had been sacked during the strike for calling in sick or not showing up to work.
"Serious efforts have been made to settle dispute and the counsel for the parties have assured the court that their respective clients will be extending full cooperation in this regard,” Justice Reva Khetrapal said.
"The senior counsel (Geeta Luthra) appearing for the pilots has said that her clients will immediately call of the strike and join their duties in 48 hours, by giving joining reports or the report expressing their willingness to join the duty,” he added. "The Air India management shall sympathetically consider the grievances of the pilots including the aspect of reinstatement of those pilots who were terminated as a consequence to their strike."
Reacting to the decision, the Indian Pilots' Guild said it was “happy with the court's observations”.
"The court has made very positive observations. It has said that all pilots should be taken back and no distinction should be made between those sacked and others. We are happy," Tauseef Mukadam, joint secretary of the Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG), which has been spearheading the strike, said.
"We will decide on calling off the strike after consulting our lawyers and receiving a copy of the High Court order," he said.
The national carrier's strike has cost the government close to Rs 600 crore.
Pilots are on strike because they believe their seniority and training is not being protected by the management. In 2007, Air India was merged with the domestic national carrier, Indian Airlines. Pilots from the former believe they are senior, and object to training offered to Indian Airlines pilots for the Boeing Dreamliner, for example.
With inputs from PTI
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