Staff protest Air India’s ‘questionable’ appointment

Air India employees have expressed resentment over the appointment of Captain Pawan Arora, who had been removed from key airline posts, as the chief operating officer (COO) of AI Express.

Air India employees have expressed resentment over the appointment of Captain Pawan Arora, who had been removed from key airline posts, as the chief operating officer (COO) of AI Express.

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The Indian Commercial Pilots Association — the biggest association of AI pilots — have questioned how a man with “doubtful credentials” and “questionable integrity” could be made COO “at such a huge salary”.

HT reported on Friday that Arora, who had been removed from flight-safety posts by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), was hired by the cash-strapped airline for a salary of R1.2 crore plus perks.

“We wonder how such controversial appointments will help in the turnaround of our company,” says the association’s letter to Arvind Jadhav, CMD of AI. The association also hit out at the decision to defer the payment of performance-linked incentives (PLI) and flying allowance this month even as the company made appointments “at phenomenally high salaries”. AI later clarified it would pay PLI on November 4.

The DGCA had removed Arora from the posts of test pilot and flight operations inspector. His appointment as an instructor on A320 with a private airline and ground instructor was also scrapped by the DGCA.