Flights Affected By Indian Airport Strikes

A strike amongst airport workers in India has affected many domestic flights leading to them being cancelled.

The strike appears to be opposition to the privatisation of airports as the strikers are members of a communist union. The airline staff are not the only Indian workers to strike however as bank workers are also walking out with three bank unions currently on strike. This is not the first time that both bank workers and airline staff have gone on strike in India as previously there has been industrial action that was protesting against industry reform.

Flights have been affected from the capital of India, Delhi with the strike lasting twelve hours from 7:00 IST (1:30 GMT). However the worst affected area is Calcutta as all flights were cancelled from the airport, the region is also run by a communist government. Reports from the area have indicated that the air force have had to be mobilised to deal with the scenario and to ensure that the airports keep running.

There appears to be general feeling amongst the strikers that the government are attempting to form mergers and not listening to the workers, it should be interesting to see the difference the strike makes - if any.

Published by: Jon Vickery