Some 15,000 airport workers across India went on strike today, threatening to ground hundreds of commercial flights and leave tens of thousands of passengers stranded.
Just after midnight yesterday, workers, including baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff, at 129 state-run airports walked off in protest over plans to privatise two major airports.
Despite the walkout airports were open with Air Force personnel called in to man vital fire-fighting and rescue services.
The government is considering legal action to force the striking workers back to their jobs, said K. N. Srivastava, a senior official at the Civil Aviation Ministry.
No immediate delays were reported as most domestic flights do not operate at these hours and New Delhi and Mumbai, the two busiest airports and the destination of most international flights, are privately run and not affected by the strike.
However, major disruptions and cancellations were expected later in the day.
S. R. Santhanam, a leader of the airport workers union, said the decision to launch an open-ended strike was made after talks with the government broke down on Monday.
The dispute stems from a government plan to privatise new airports in the southern cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore, a move that the union says will endanger the jobs of hundreds of employees.
Airport authorities plan to shift all commercial activity from the cities' old airports to the new ones when they open in coming weeks.
Hyderabad and Bangalore are both large cities that are home to several major multinational corporations as well as scores of thriving information technology companies.
The government plans to use the old airports for disaster management and flights carrying government leaders, aviation ministry spokeswoman Moushmi Chakravarty said.
Chakravarty said the private operators would retain the employees. However, the unions worry that there could be future layoffs.
Subhash Goyal, chairman of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, said any strike could cost the booming aviation sector millions of dollars.
"It will have a tremendous impact on travellers," he said.
India's airline industry has grown dramatically in recent years as rising incomes and loosened regulations put air travel within reach of millions of new customers.
In the early 1990s, Indian Airlines was the country's single carrier, but Indian authorities opened up the airways and since then about a dozen airlines have opened for business, leading to a heated competition and low prices.
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