A ‘strike’ by about 100 pilots of Air India, India’s national carrier, has affected international flights with at least one flight to the UAE being affected so far. The pilots abstained from duty and claimed to be ill. A group of another 200 pilots are also reported to have joined their colleagues by going on mass ‘sick leave’. Five international flights have been cancelled so far, including Air India Express’ Thiruvananthapuram-Muscat and Sharjah-Calicut flights. The other affected flights include Delhi-Chicago, Delhi-Toronto, Mumbai-New Jersey and Mumbai-Hong Kong. The pilots’ action concerns a disagreement between the pilot unions and the management over selecting pilots to handle the Dreamliner 787. Abhay Pathak, Regional Director, Air India (Middle East and Africa) said the strike by pilots is not yet officially confirmed, even as services of Air India Express are affected. “So far we haven’t officially confirmed the strike, but some pilots have reported sick. Our Air India flights to the region are normal, but a Sharjah-Calicut flight has been either delayed or cancelled. “Compared to the last pilot strike, we hope the issue will be sorted out.” He said the airline has currently 18 flights per week from the Gulf region to India. “The airline season to India is always busy and yet another pilot strike will disrupt the services. It will help the private airlines,” said a travel agent in Dubai.

Ministry of Economy gets dealers to issue new standard unified contract for purchase of carsThe Ministry of Economy and representatives of car dealers in the country have agreed that a new car suffering from a manufacturing defect will be replaced

According to a report in Al Ittihad newspaper, in a meeting between the two parties yesterday it was agreed that cars with manufacturing defects that cannot be repaired will be replaced without any additional charges to the owner.

Read how get car for Dh10,700 or less at Dubai auction

This was confirmed by Dr Hachim Al Nuaimi, Director of the Consumer Protection Department at the ministry.

Al Nuaimi said: “After meeting with officials in 40 car dealerships in UAE and in the presence of Dubai Department of Economic Development it has been agreed to replace a defective car without any additional fees.


“The agreement will be added to terms of the new standard unified contract for purchase of cars.

“A consumer will be eligible to get a new car replaced or repaired or have its value retrieved, after depreciation, in case a breakdown of more than three times.”

Click to read BMW to recall 6,781 cars

He added that the car reps and the MoE decided on a 20 per cent depreciation value per year.

The meeting also agreed on a standard form for auto recovery operation and maintenance.

The ministry asked agents to determine the applicable warranty parts and other parts that are not covered by warranty and educate the consumer and raise awareness of their rights.

He added that it was also agreed that a neutral party with technical expertise be called in to identify reasons behind car failure.

Dr Nuami called on consumers to communicate with the ministry by dialling 60052222.