Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi, said the government will talk to the striking Air India's pilots only if they end their agitation and report to work. The minister also said that government will wait andabide by the court's order in the Contempt of Court proceeding initiated on the plea of the Air India management.The Delhi High Court yesterday started hearing contempt proceedings against the office bearers of Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) for continuing their agitation and ignoring a stay order on the strike. The Court again directed the pilots to end their strike immediately and also asked the management to consider their demands. The court will take up the matter for hearing today again.National carrier Air India cancelled close to 165 flights, yesterday.The pilots union again ignored the Delhi High Court's directive to call off the strike. The counsel for the pilots informed the court that they will immediately call off the strike if the management takes up two of their demands – of restoring recognition status of ICPA and re-instating the sacked pilots. Meanwhile, thousands of stranded passengers across the country were forced to shell out high fares for bookings on other private airlines, which have increased their ticket prices. Taking note of the sharp increase in air fares and the hassles being faced by the AI passengers, aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed private airlines not to take advantage of the strike by hiking air fares. It also granted private airlines' permission to operate flights on some of the routes where Air India operated before the pilots' strike to lessen the impact of flight cancellation on passengers.