The Air-India management is now open to the idea of having a new pilot's union.

The management recently de-recognised the Indian Pilot's Guild when members affiliated to it abandoned flights at various destinations in view of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.

"The Air-India management would prefer having a pilots' union as it understands the importance of a union. If the rank and file come back to us with a fresh committee of leaders, we are not opposed to having a new union," sources in Air-India said. There was, however, no possibility of recognising the IPG in its current form, sources said.

A-I managing director J N Gogoi met a group of pilots on Monday.

Sources claimed the current IPG leadership would soon be served multiple chargesheets.

"Apart from abandoning flights, the current leadership has tried to instigate the members of the union to resort to illogical action by mis-guiding them, thereby putting their future at stake," senior officials with Air-India added.

The seven committee members of the IPG have been chargesheeted separately.

The IPG has been in existence for around four decades and this is the first time in the history of Air-India that a union has been de-recognised by the management.

Meanwhile, most of the member pilots have joined back after having signed an unconditional undertaking with the airline. Air-India, having resolved the crisis, is now in the process of designing fresh growth strategies.