Strike to Paralyze Indian Airports

Airport workers across India threatened to strike at midnight on Tuesday, a move that could ground hundreds of commercial flights and leave tens of thousands of passengers stranded.

The threatened strike is over plans to privatize two major airports, but workers are expected to join in at 127 other state-run airports _ nearly every airport in India except New Delhi and Mumbai, the two busiest airports, which are already privately run.

S. R. Santhanam, a leader of the airport workers union, said the decision to launch an open-ended strike starting at midnight Tuesday was made after talks with the government broke down Monday.

'No talks are scheduled unless the government sends a message,' he said, adding that some 15,000 airport workers, including baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff would go on strike.

The dispute between stems from a government plan to privatize new airports in the southern cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore, a move that 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 told The Associated Press.

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 travelers,' 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.

In January India's aviation minister Praful Patel said that Indian carriers were expected to increase their fleet of aircraft from the current 400 to about 2,500 by 2020.