New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Friday told Air India pilots to publicly apologize to the public for unleashing a 10-day strike that crippled the national carrier's domestic operations in May.


Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Veena Birbal gave the ruling after hearing the contempt of court charges against nine pilots belonging to the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), one of the major unions of Air India.

"The high court has accepted our affidavit that we will apologize to the Indian public and close the case," Sanjoy Ghose, counsel for the pilots, told IANS.

According to Ghose, nine pilots would tender the apology by means of advertisements in two national dallies. "We will advertise the apology within 10 days."

The 10-day strike from April 26 midnight till May 5 forced the carrier to cancel around 1,500 flights and suffer a revenue loss of Rs.200 crore.

Ghose added that the moderator between the court and pilots, Sidharath Luthra, endorsed the pilots affidavit.

The court had earlier ordered a stay on the strike April 27 but the pilots stuck to their demands. They were slapped with contempt notices, and a criminal contempt proceeding was initiated against them.