The pilots of state-run Air India have continued their agitation against the management even as their strike entered 21th day Monday.

The airline is estimated to have lost Rs. 300 crore mainly due to ticket cancellations, unused labour and most of its Boeing-777 fleet being grounded, according to an official. The airline is operating under a contingency plan with reduced frequency of services due to unavailability of pilots.

The management of Air India had announced a new much reduced schedule for the month of June due to continued uncertainties over the striking pilots. The new interim schedule, which will be in affect from June 2-30, was announced by the state-run airline on Wednesday. Under the new schedule, the airline has cut seven international flights daily and it will operate only 38 services instead of a normal 45 services daily.

The airline will continue to fly to destinations in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Singapore, Thailand and SAARC countries normally but destinations like Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul and Toronto have been dropped from the interim schedule for the month of June. The airline had also decided to reduce fairs for most of its flights and moved chunk of seats under the lowest fare category to help boost its share in the domestic as well as the international markets.

Air India had announced its decision to sack a group of 10 pilots after they went on an agitation against the airline. The airline management also announced that it is derecognizing their union and had to seal its offices in Delhi and Mumbai. Among the ten pilots who have been sacked by the airline, some are office bearers of the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), which is heading the protest against the management. More than 300 of its pilots are not reporting for work since three weeks.