Roll back ban on posting on social media, digital platforms: Air India pilots

Besides all the other restrictions, the pilots, in a letter to Air India chairperson and managing director Rajiv Bansal, objected to needing approval from the airline even to upload personal content unrelated to Air India or any of its activities

Air India’s union of airbus pilots, Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), has requested its management to roll back the policy that does not allow any Air India employee, whether serving or retired, to post anything on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, WhatsApp or Twitter, blogs or video channels, be it during or after duty hours, and has termed the policy to be entirely illegal and with no basis in law.

Representational image. (AP)

Besides all the other restrictions, the pilots, in a letter to Air India chairperson and managing director Rajiv Bansal, objected to needing approval from the airline even to upload personal content related to Air India or any of its activities. The pilots also pointed that the policy implemented from March 1, 2021 states that the airline has the rights to monitor comments or discussions about them, their employees, clients and the industry posted on the Internet.

The pilots said that India currently has no law that either empowers or remotely justifies such an act by an employer to impose a blanket ban on the use of social/ digital media.

The letter read, “While we note the concerns that Air India may have, in respect of protecting its image over social/digital media, especially preceding its proposed disinvestment, the introduction of a policy as the present one, is entirely unheard of and infringes upon various rights of its employees. It goes on to categorically state that it covers conduct of employees as private participants on the social media platforms, thereby making it patently illegal. The present policy, introduced by Air India, is most importantly, violative of the fundamental right of freedom and speech, guaranteed to the employees of Air India, under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution, being citizens of India.”

The union said, “Even assuming for a moment that Air India still has the authority and the power to introduce the present blanket policy, the same is expressly hit by the bar under Section 9A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (ID Act), and cannot be allowed to subsist.”

Stating the law, the pilots reiterated that the introduction and enforcement of the policy by Air India, with no consultation, discussion, notice or any other form of communication with the employees will result in multiple violations by them and hence asked them to drop the policy.

An Air India spokesperson refused to comment on the issue.