Air India pilots have agreed to hold talks with the country’s government to end a long running strike.
The airline sacked more than 100 pilots over the past two weeks in a dispute over training for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes.
Pilots had protested against the decision to train pilots from Indian Airlines, which merged with Air India in 2007, saying they should be trained first.
As the strike enters its 18th day, India’s aviation minister indicated that he might consider reinstating the sacked pilots.
He said it could decide to consider each case individually and there would be no total bar on re-employing them.
According to the state radio station, All India Radio, the Indian Pilots Guild union has since requested a meeting with the minister and has indicated that pilots would return to work if the sacked pilots are reinstated.
