Air India pilots oppose pay cut amid lockdown

This comes after the airline announced 10% cut of the cabin crew and pilots flying allowance, few days after the lockdown was announced.

Air India pilots have raised concerns over their pay cut announced due to nationwide lockdown. The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) comprising of Boeing fleet pilots and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (IPCA) in a letter to its chairman and managing director Rajiv Bansal on Friday said that the pay cut on allowance is unequal and not acceptable to them.

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This comes after the airline announced 10% cut of the cabin crew and pilots flying allowance, few days after the lockdown was announced.

The letter read, “By effecting a 10% cut on allowances for all employees, the category that has been affected the most are pilots.”

The airline pilots requested Bansal to advise the senior executive management to draw up fair cost-cutting measures and not to manipulate the system to safeguard their salaries by burdening the frontline soldiers of the national carrier. “We are open to discussion on an alternative. We hereby seek your urgent intervention,” the pilots said.

The pilots said that they are supporting operations of flights for essential services and ensuring the delivery of services is not affected and also rescue Indians stuck in various parts of the world, yet the flying allowance is not paid on time.

“While all the other employees are paid in full, flying crew alone are made to bear the brunt with the delayed flying allowance. Implementation of sham austerity measures to cut the flying allowances on top of all this would be adding insult to injury,” the pilots complained.