Air India has deferred the training programme for its pilots to fly the latest Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft by about a month following protests by a section of its cockpit crew.

According to Air India Officials, the programme to train the first batch of pilots which was scheduled to start from tomorrow has been deferred.

An Air India Spokesman told our Correspondent that the two pilots who are already undergoing training in Singapore, will continue their programme.

The spokesman said that the decision comes in the wake of Air India's management holding negotiations with the Indian Pilots Guild, IPG, over the choice of pilots for training programme.

Earlier in the day, the Air India management informed the Bombay High Court about the decision to postpone the training programme. The IPG had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court alleging discrimination on the part of the airlines management in giving opportunities for career progression to the pilots of the erstwhile Indian Airlines.