Air India's operations were severely affected today with at least 20 flights, including five international services, being cancelled as over 16,000 staffers went on a flash strike across the country to protest delay in payment of salaries. <br/><br/>Several other flights were delayed, many of them by over an hour, as the strike from 1230 hours spread in major metro cities with employees walking out of their offices and organising demonstrations to press for their demands.<br/><br/>Air India had last week decided to delay the May salaries by a week. The international flights cancelled were those from Delhi to Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai (two flights) and one from Amritsar to London, Air India officials said. Domestic services from Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai were also affected.<br/><br/>Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel held a meeting with Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav along with senior Ministry officials to take stock of the situation in the capital. <br/><br/>Air India has appealed its employees to join hands to work for strengthening the national carrier. The strike comes a day after the management issued an internal notification to employees, warning them against airing their views about the airline in public. <br/><br/>Sources said, show cause notice to some union leaders have also been issued for talking to media.