Air traffic at the Delhi and other airports in the country was unaffected as employees of the Airports Authority of India began their indefinite strike to protest 'privatisation' of Delhi and Mumbai airports.

Flight operations in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore were also unaffected. In Mumbai, airport terminal managers maintained that the functioning of the airport, one of the busiest in the country, was not affected and that all the flights scheduled to arrive and depart operated on time.

Govt gears up to deal with airport strike

Agitating workers said they would continue their protest till the government withdraws its decision to hand over Delhi and Mumbai airports to private consortia.

"Unless and until the Government heeds to our demand to withdraw its decision to privatise Mumbai and Delhi airports, we will not stop our agitation. We are ready to go to the extent of even sacrificing our lives," Branch Secretary, Airport Authority Employees Union, Pramod Sharma said.

"We are not against modernisation. We are only opposing handing over the process to private players. The Airport Authority of India is fully capable of doing that," he said.

The drama of airport privatisation

Though Air Traffic Controllers are not on strike, the ATC guild has expressed solidarity with the agitating workers. The Airport Authority of India said all steps had been taken to ensure "smooth functioning" of airports.

"We are ensuring that all services, both air and ground, remain normal and all the facilities for passengers are unaffected. All contingency measures have been taken," Premnath said.

Nearly 1500 Airports Authority of India employees in Chennai went on strike as part of nationwide protests against the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports but there was no disruption of flight services in Chennai, official sources said.

All operations were being maintained while flight departures and arrivals were on as per schedule, Airport Director S Subramanian told PTI.

"There seems to be some impact of the strike on the passengers, but there is no disruption of any facility at the moment," Hyderabad airport director R K Singla said.  However, flight departures and arrivals were also not affected, he said.

In Ahmedabad, hundreds of employees, who are members of the officers and employees unions signed the work roster and then abstained from working. Ahmedabad airport authorities said air traffic would not be affected and contingency plans were in place.

Patna airport director Atul Dikshit said Indian Air Force personnel had been drafted from air bases in Darbhanga and Bitha as all the 100-odd AAI employees there had struck work.

AAI employees did not join the strike in Guwahati, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Imphal and Dimapur while union spokesmen in Hyderabad, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar said they would chalk out their line of action after talks with leaders in regional hubs.

Air traffic normal in Mumbai

Members of the AAI Employees Union gathered in front of the entrance of the airport but air traffic was not affected as Air Traffic Controllers did not join the strike.

Police cordoned off the entrance and said that they would not allow the employees to stage protest. However, Nitin Jadhav, All India Joint Secretary of AAI Employees Union said they would go ahead with the strike.

Operations unaffected at Bangalore airport    

Owing to the limited presence of Airports Authority of India employees in Bangalore, it was business as usual on Wednesday at the Bangalore airport with no disruptions or delay in flight operations, airport sources said.

Air Traffic Control and other facilities at the airport in Bangalore are run by defence undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and some services at the domestic and international terminals, including civil and electrical actitivies, have been outsourced to contractors, the sources said.

"The strike (by AAI employees) has no impact in Bangalore, where functioning has been smooth as usual," a senior official at the airport said.

According to the official, the strength of AAI employees at Bangalore airport, owned by the state-run aircraft manufacturer, is around 160.