Talks between senior officials of civil aviation ministry and the Indian Pilots Guild began in Mumbai on Saturday shortly after noon to resolve the issue of operating in SARS-affected regions by the unions and to restore normalcy in Air-India operations.

Civil Aviation Secretary K Roy Paul, who is also the A-I chairman, additional secretary V Subramanian and joint secretary Anurag Goel are heading the talks between A-I and the unionised pilots, airline sources said in Mumbai.

The 10-member committee of IPG was headed by Capt Kenneth Khan, who arrived here late last night to attend the meeting, which is being held at A-I's technical headquarters.

A-I spokesperson said: "Whatever the outcome of the meeting, we are ready with a contingency plan."

A-I operated four of its scheduled international flights from Mumbai on Saturday morning even as the management has sent letters to the managing committee members of IPG asking them to withdraw all their directives about operations to the SARS-affected regions.

Apart from its international flights to Delhi-Dubai, Calicut-Dubai, London-New York and Paris-New Jersey, the airline operated services to Cochin, Bangalore and Ahmedabad to bring in connecting passengers from its international flights.

A-I also operated a special flight to London, which left at 9.45 a.m. to bring stranded passengers.

However, it cancelled the Mumbai-Kochi-Doha-Abu Dhabi A310 service, the sources added.