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Mumbai: On the eve of an all-India strike across 127 airports in the country, the Airports Authority Employees Union (AAEU) has warned travellers of inconvenience, including in Mumbai airport run by a private operator.
But a spokesman of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), a private company which runs the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, said Mumbai will not be affected by the strike.
"We have a contingency plan to deal with any emergency and will outsource services wherever required," said Manish Kalghatgi, the airport's corporate communications chief.
Cleaning
The areas that would have been affected by the strike - like fire services, power station, ramp handling and housekeeping (cleanliness at the airport) are all handled by MIAL, he said.
However, the AAEU's regional secretary, Dilip Mathure, contradicts him by saying that Mumbai will definitely be affected "since our employees, of the non-executive cadre, are in a majority and carry out all operations whether it concerns the runway, electricity, water supply, ground handling, sweeping or cleaning of the airport."
Not perturbed
Even though Air Traffic Control comes directly under the Airports Authority of India (AAI), none of employees will be joining the strike, he said.
Mumbai handles 725 aircraft movements - landing and take-offs - per day and most airlines have their own ground handling agencies and therefore are not perturbed, he says.
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