New Delhi - Thousands of passengers were affected as a strike by pilots from India's second-largest private airline Jet Airways entered its second day Wednesday, forcing the airline to cancel over 200 flights, officials said. As many as 206 flights including 32 on international routes to Gulf countries, Bangkok and Hong Kong were being cancelled through Wednesday, Jet Airways Chief Operating Officer Hameed Ali told reporters in the western city of Mumbai.
But flights to United States and Europe will operate on schedule. The airline operates 380 flights daily to various parts of India and abroad.
More than 430 pilots - more than half of Jet's 760 pilots - were on strike, Ali said.
"There is a huge inconvenience and we have set up a passenger crisis centre to minimize the trouble," Ali said.
"We are managing 50 per cent of the total load of 14,000 passengers through our airlines and the remainder will be accommodated with other airlines," he said.
The pilots went on a mass sick leave Tuesday in a "simulated strike" to protest against the sacking of two pilots by the airline in July.
The newly formed National Aviators Guild, a union of some Jet Airways pilots, called the strike, demanding reinstatement of their colleagues.
Thousands of passengers were stranded in Indian cities and were lodged in hotels by the airline, local news channels reported.
Scores of other passengers were at airports locked in angry exchanges with airline officials, the reports said.
Meanwhile, Jet chairman Naresh Goyal warned of stern action.
"They are behaving like terrorists. They cannot hold the country, passengers and the airline hostage," Goyal was quoted by the IANS news agency as saying.
A total of 186 flights, 154 of them domestic, were cancelled Tuesday, affecting about 14,000 passengers.
"We won't tolerate such blackmail. The livelihood of more than 30,000 employees of Jet Airways is at stake," he added.
As the deadlock continued, local news outlets reported that talks between the airline management and the pilots union could be held later on Wednesday.
Jet Airways, along with other Indian carriers, has been struggling over the past year as the aviation sector in India has been hit by rising fuel prices and the economic slowdown.
The airlines sacked 800 flight attendants in 2008 but had to reinstate them after days of protests by employees and political pressure.
