Aviation minister not advised properly: Former Air India ED

The pilots of state run carrier Air India have been on a strike for almost a week now and there is still no sign of a truce between the national carrier and the striking pilots. 

165 flights have been cancelled and no fresh bookings are being taken till May 6. But, Air India management hopes to operate 38 flights today domestically to fly passengers who had booked their tickets earlier. In the meanwhile, talking to CNBC-TV18, Jitendra Bhargava, Former ED of Air India, sternly said that the civil aviation minister has not been advised properly about the ongoing issues. He also expressed displeasure about the fact that the human resources problems have not been handled professionally by the management and there is a clear communication failure on both the sides. He said, "The reality is nobody in his senses would support a strike. Having said that, the question that begs an answer is, is the human resource being handled professionally by Air India? Why is that there is so much discontentment? Why is that certain promises have been made and they haven't been honoured? Because pilots strike is manifesting their kind of grievance." "But let us not forget that the rest of the employees of Air India are also not happy with the way the company is being run, the way they are being treated and the way their involvement being taken in the airline. All this adds up to a pretty scary position for Air India." In the meanwhile, the Air India management had expressed their intent to talk and resolve this issue six days ago. However, according to Bhargava there is lack of trust between Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and Air India chairman. Also, questions have been raised on the intent of Air India board and civil aviation minister; there are allegations that the management is not serious about Air India's profitability. Also watch the accompanying video