The management of Air India has filed a contempt petition against the striking pilots in the Delhi High Court as the agitation continued for the 16th day.

The move comes after the court had upheld the decision of a single bench describing the strike as illegal. The government repeated its stance that the strike is illegal and blamed the pilots for not coming to the negotiation table.

The court ruled that the pilots should face proceedings if they do not return to work. It is a new setback to the more than 300 pilots striking against the management. The strike has now entered its 11th day and there is not agreement to end the agitation in sight.

There is another concern for the agitating pilots, there is a service rule, which says that if any pilot goes on sudden sick leave and does not report to work for more than 14 days then he or she would be subjected to a full medical board before being permitted to join the services. There are 3 more days for the pilots to decide if they want to continue the sick-leave agitation.

The airline said that the flights on Delhi-Toronto, Delhi-Chicago, Mumbai-Newark and Mumbai-Hongkong via Delhi sectors were cancelled as the pilots did not come for work. Air India had to cancel 24 flights on Monday, most of which were international flights as 300 of its pilots did not show up for work on the day.

Air India had announced its decision to sack a group of 10 pilots after they went on an agitation against the airline. The airline management also announced that it is derecognizing their union and had to seal its offices in Delhi and Mumbai. Among the ten pilots who have been sacked by the airline, some are office bearers of the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), which is heading the protest against the management.