E-Paper
Air India pilots upset over cut in pay rollback, won’t work after duty time
The pilots are upset that though the airline has rolled back 5% in the wages up to the 70% cut it had imposed from April, the actual rollback amounts to only 3% of the total deduction
Air India pilots belonging to both Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Unions (ICPA) on Saturday directed their member pilots to not extend their duty and rest time hours. IPG includes Boeing pilots, while ICPA represents pilots who fly Airbus.
The pilots are upset that though the airline has rolled back 5% in the wages up to the 70% cut it had imposed from April, the actual rollback amounts to only 3% of the total deduction.
In their letter to the airline’s director (operations), the pilot unions said despite being patient about the “neglecting attitude” of the management amid the Covid-19 pandemic, they left no stone unturned to ensure smooth operations continue.
The pilots alleged that the national carrier’s top management has seen “fit to heap” discrimination against them under the guise of the ongoing pandemic.
This, according to the pilots, is being done by unilaterally imposing harsh pay cuts on them while absolving itself from any fiscal responsibility towards the national carrier or its frontline employees.
The letter read, “The market is firmly set on the road to recovery and competing carriers are revoking their temporary austerity. This is to inform you that we will no longer extend unconditional co-operation while the top management continues to mock the dignity of our profession.”
The pilots had on Thursday also written to Air India’s chairman and managing director Rajiv Bansal, rejecting the 5% roll back, and warned of an “industrial action”.
The pilots in their letter had said, “This [working for additional hours during Covid-19] generosity amounts to a reduction of about 3% in the current gross pay cut for pilots.”
