The move by the pilots led to cancellation of nearly 200 flights and chaos at airports. Over 20,000 passengers, including hundreds of foreign visitors, were stranded.

Flights out of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai were in a shambles as a result of the strike.

In a reprieve to the airlines, the Bombay High Court passed an order barring any form of strike by the pilots.

Jet Airways had petitioned the court Tuesday to restrain the National Aviators' Guild (NAG) - a union of 400 Jet Airways pilots - from resorting to any form of strike. Jet Airways has 1,080 pilots on its rolls. It operates 380 flights to 63 destinations in India and overseas, of which 113 domestic and 16 international flights were cancelled Tuesday.

Civil Aviation Secretary M. Madhavan Nambiar told reporters that the government 'could only facilitate the issue', but 'it has to be sorted out between the airline management and the agitating pilots'.