The striking employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have deferred their agitation till March 10, in protest against closure of Bangalore and Hyderabad airports and other issues.

The AAI Employees’ Union (AAEU), which is leading the strike slated to begin on Tuesday, agreed to defer it after an appeal by Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel. The decision came after a meeting Patel held with representatives of the union here on Monday in which he sought more time to sort out matters. An official release said, “It has been decided that the Ministry will look into these matters in detail and another round of discussion will be held with the Union representatives in the near future”.

AAEU general secretary M K Ghoshal told reporters, “We have come to this decision after taking into account the problems passengers may face in the wake of the strike. The minister also requested for more time”.

CITU general secretary M K Pandhe, who accompanied the union leaders in the talks, said the minister has assured them that the tripartite (government, union and airport operators) meeting would be held to resolve the issues related to the employees of New Delhi and Mumbai airports. Pandhe, also a CPM polit bureau member, said the party would oppose the government move to close down existing airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore.
“Government’s decision to shut down the existing airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore is totally wrong. It will be absolutely incorrect to close down these airports once the new ones come up there,” Pandhe told reporters here.  Ghoshal claimed that the government has taken “no action” since they went on a token agitation on February 12 on the demand  charter. 

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had then announced setting up of a Tripartite Committee comprising representatives of his Ministry, the AAI and employees to look into the issues concerning airport modernisation. However, the AAEU complained that for the past eight to nine months, no meeting of this panel has been convened.