In 2012, Air India’s pilots resorted to the longest pilots’ strike in global aviation history when they went off duty for over 60 days over an issue which continues to baffle aviation pundits. The trigger was the government’s decision to allow their co-brothers from the recently merged Indian Airlines to undertake advanced pilots training for the soon-to-be-inducted Dreamliner.191 Their strike had a crippling impact on the national carrier and contributed to its slide. That was not the first or the last time Indian pilots had kept away from work.
