New Delhi, May 21: The meeting between civil aviation minister Ajit Singh and the union leaders of Air India failed to break the impasse on the pilot strike.
Singh today urged the union leaders to persuade the pilots to call off the strike.
Meanwhile, the national carrier sacked 30 more pilots today as the agitation by over 200 pilots entered the 14th day resulting in a revenue loss of about Rs 300 crore.
"Pilots do not have a reason to strike ... (however) I am assuring that there will be no victimisation of pilots by the government (if they rejoin)," Singh said after meeting union leaders representing different sections of the national carrier.
The Indian Pilots Guild, which is spearheading the strike, was not part of the talks.
Meanwhile, two more pilots of the now derecognised Indian Pilots Guild resumed their duties today. According to airline sources, a total of five pilots have reported back to work in the last three days.
Asserting that the Delhi high court has declared the ongoing strike as illegal, the minister said, "a two-judge bench of the Delhi high court rejected the pilots' plea challenging the earlier verdict. This is a peak time for airlines and the pilots should have stayed away from striking work".
The Indian Pilots Guild denied that any of its pilots had deserted them and claimed that three more pilots had joined the agitation.
