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Business News/ Companies / News/  Centre issues stricter rules for Air India pilots
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Centre issues stricter rules for Air India pilots

The order takes some AI pilots' pay to market levels, but their pay will be cut for reporting late for work

Photo: Hindustan TimesPremium
Photo: Hindustan Times

A 1 January directive by the civil aviation ministry to state-owned airline Air India helps take salaries of some of the airline’s pilots to market levels but also imposes several penalties on them, including pay cuts, for reporting late or for missing flights.

“The way this has been drafted and pushed through, if the unions take a stand, it will lead to industrial disputes and disruptions," said Mohan Ranganathan, a Chennai-based aviation safety consultant who has negotiated with the management as part of Air India’s unions in the past.

One of the airline’s pilot groupings, the Indian Pilot Guild (IPG) said it has told Air India chairman Ashwini Lohani that it would like to hold on to its old 2007 agreement.

Air India had derecognized IPG as an airline union in 2012 after an industrial dispute.

The airline’s pilot union Indian Commercial Pilot’s Association (ICPA), which has been fighting to bring ICPA pilots (of erstwhile Indian Airlines) to IPG levels (erstwhile Air India), said it would accept the order, as it raises pay scales to market levels. “We have given our consent," an ICPA spokesperson said without going into details.

The two state-owned airlines were merged in 2007.

“IPG has no objection in ICPA getting 40% hike in wages but IPG wants the nine-year-old agreement to be followed in toto. We are not looking for any hike at this point in time," a spokesperson for IPG said.

The 1 January directive is applicable for three-and-half years.

The order states that the pilots will get guaranteed 70 hours of flying allowance: 850-4,300 per hour for co-pilots and 4,800-7,100 for commanders.

But the guaranteed hours will be payable only if pilots have made themselves available for flying for 150 days over a six-month period. The calculation will be done half yearly.

Further, the guaranteed payment (for 70 hours) will be made only if the pilots actually fly for only 40 hours.

The policy also said that pilots’ pay would be docked for delays in submitting documents needed to renew licences; not operating a flight they were supposed to without good reason; and not responding to changes in schedules communicated to them.

Many of the steps will bring in discipline but some could create unrest. “Can ministry ensure that the service provider for ‘telephone, SMS, Whatsapp. Email’ delivers the information immediately? There have been several instances when the server can fail and the pilot can be blamed for that," said Ranganthan.

A pilot is also entitled to privilege and casual leave. If he takes them and takes more than four days they can turn around and say he/she is not eligible for allowances.

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Published: 03 Feb 2016, 12:43 AM IST
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