MUMBAI, September 8, 2009 (AFP) - Flights on India's second-largest private airline, Jet Airways, were disrupted on Tuesday after a number of pilots went on what the company called a "simulated strike" and reported sick.

Nearly 120 flights around the country, including 35 from the financial hub Mumbai and 18 from New Delhi, were cancelled as a result of the action, which Jet Airways said was a "planned sabotage of operations".

The move would "damage the airline's operations and inconvenience the travelling public," the statement added.

The National Aviation Guild, a union claiming to represent 650 of the more than 1,000 pilots at Jet, had been in talks with senior management after the company dismissed two senior pilots last month.

Union officials have demanded their reinstatement, calling the dismissal "an act of vendetta" as the pilots had formed a trade union body in the company.

A strike had been planned for Tuesday but was called off on Monday.

Jet Airways said that any strike would be illegal as the dispute had been referred to the regional labour commissioner and conciliation talks were ongoing.