NOVEMBER 5: A work-to-rule agitation by air traffic controllers (ATCs) across the country from today disrupted flights originating from Mumbai. The agitation, which began in phases from Mumbai on Saturday, spread to Madras and Delhi with the ATCs of Calcutta joining the agitation from Tuesday night.

According to airport sources flights belonging to Sahara Airlines and Gujarat Airways were cleared for take-off after a delay of 30 to 45 minutes as ATCs decided to stick to the rule books in clearing aircraft. ``Normally we exercise judicious judgement to reduce delays, but this time we are strictly abiding by the rules,'' said a spokesman of the ATC Guild in the city. According to an Indian Airlines spokesman a Mumbai-Mangalore flight was delayed by 30 minutes. He added that there were a few other `consequential' delays due to late arrival of flights from other cities, but the reason for delay was yet to be ascertained.

However, international flights were not yet affected by the agitation. According to an Air-India spokesperson all A-I flights took off on time today.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.