Mumbai, Sep 9 - Sam Thomas, one of the pilots sacked by Jet Airways, Wednesday said the newly formed pilots' union - National Aviators Guild (NAG) - would not be disbanded and that they were qualified to get jobs elsewhere.

'We will not disband the union,' Thomas told reporters here.

'We want to work with dignity. There is already a scarcity of trained pilots and we are qualified enough to get jobs elsewhere,' he added.

Maintaining that the pilots were ready for talks with the management, Thomas said: 'The chairman is being misguided.'

Some 400 Jet Airways pilots, all members of the NAG, Tuesday started an agitation by reporting sick. They are demanding that Thomas and another retrenched guild member, Balaraman, be taken back.

'We were sent an e-mail saying our services are no more required,' Thomas said.

'If you want to leave the organisation, you are asked to serve a notice period of six months. But your job is terminated in six minutes.'