Siliguri, March 13: Around 25 employees on contract joined work at the Bagdogra airport today, improving passenger amenities that have been affected since yesterday following the indefinite “non-cooperation” movement by Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees.

However, the AAI employees called off their two-day strike in the evening , after the government assured them that no airport would be closed down without consulting them.

Nine flights landed and took off from the Bagdogra airport, carrying about 750 passengers. “There was no delay in the arrivals and departures,” said K.K. Bhowmik, the airport director. Some delays were caused by hold-ups at the airports from where the flights were arriving, he said.

Of the employees who attended work today were 10 conservancy workers. They helped keep the terminal building clean, compared to many other airports in the country, including Dum Dum. The difference was noticed by a passenger who took a Jet flight from Bagdogra to Calcutta this afternoon.

“When we landed in Dum Dum, the garbage and filth could be seen on the floor all over the building. Admitted the passenger load is higher at the Netaji Subhas Airport, but even then, Bagdogra was very spic and span. It seemed some cleaning work had been carried out there,” said Anirudha Ghosh, the Siliguri manager of a private corporate group.

Bhowmik admitted that he spoke to the employees on contract, many of whom had abstained from work yesterday, and convinced them that they would be the losers as they had been hired on a “no work, no pay” basis. They agreed to work, and were joined by 15 others in the civil and electrical departments.

The 25 AAI personnel affiliated to the Airports Authority Employees’ Union, however, had stayed away from work.