Daily News & Analysis
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI, Feb 1 : If you are flying today or anytime soon, travel light and be ready for truncated services at airports. That’s because the Airports Authority of India Employees’ Joint forum has declared a “pen-down strike” from Wednesday.
The services likely to be affected are water supply, electrical equipment operation, fire services, aerobridge operation, runway surveillance systems, baggage conveyor belts, information boards, and maintenance.
So you could find yourself waiting in a long queue for your luggage, or hunting for a trolley, or being forced to endure dirty toilets.
But air traffic control and airline staff will be on duty and flights are expected to be on schedule.
The pen-down strike is against the privatisation and modernisation process set in motion for New Delhi and Mumbai airports. It has not been officially conveyed to the authorities, who have threatened to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act.
Airports Authority Employees’ Union general secretary Nitin Jadhav said, “We will simply not work from Wednesday, 10am.”
Sources said AAI executive members (mostly managers and office staff) would also participate in the stir. But Mumbai airport director RJ Treasurywala said operations would go on smoothly and authorities would outsource services for the time being.
There was a trial run on Tuesday wherein city fire services were called in and ladders were used to help passengers disembark.
On Tuesday, AAI employees held a peaceful demonstration outside the civil aviation ministry’s offices at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in New Delhi, where the financial tenders were being opened. No services were disrupted, however, at the national and international airports.
Airports Authority Officers’ Association joint secretary LN Prasad said, “We have been forced to take this extreme step as AAI employees feel cheated. If our demands are not met, we will continue to protest.”
Amenities like water and power supply at the airports, ground lighting systems, runway lighting, conveyor belts, housekeeping, maintenance, and apron control come under the AAI. Around 21,000 AAI employees have threatened to disrupt these services at 126 airports across the country.
Meanwhile, non-executive members of the AAI at Karippur airport near Kozhikode went on a lightning strike on Tuesday in protest against the Centre’s move to privatise Delhi and Mumbai airports.