By IANS
Mumbai : Hundreds of passengers were stranded Wednesday at the Chhattrapati Shivaji airport's domestic terminal here with flights being delayed or their luggage missing as ground staff of Indian went on an indefinite strike.
Nearly 13,000 employees of Indian has been on strike since Tuesday night, demanding pay hikes and payment of arrears, leading to disruption in flights from different parts of India. Indian's cabin crew also joined the strike Wednesday.
The striking employees, members of the Airport Corporation Employees Union (ACEU), are demanding wage revisions and promotional parity with their Air India counterparts after the two state-run domestic and international carriers merge.
Basic facilities like ferrying passengers from the aircraft to the terminal and luggage transfer were also missing, airport sources said.
"The strike has disrupted the normal flight schedules and luggage clearance is taking over an hour after the delayed flights land," an airport official said.
"Flight operations to and from Mumbai have been seriously hit as Indian's cabin crew have joined the agitation. Delays are affecting the schedules of other airlines too," he added.
According to sources, the carrier's flights on international routes have also been hit.
Long queues were seen at the airline's ticket counters as passengers lined up to cancel their flights.