Unrest in Air India continues

AI pilots warn management of exodus
New Delhi: The pilots of Air India have several pending issues with the airline like continuing pay cut and flying some very old planes. They have now warned of an exodus of pilots from AI unless these issues are resolved at the earliest.

An official of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA, union of erstwhile Indian Airlines now AI Domestic) said large number of pilots have already quit in the past two years and that many more are serving their notice periods. "The biggest issue is of pay cut that refuses to go away and the fact that AI still operates 26-year-old Airbus A320s," said an ICPA office-bearer.

ICPA general secretary Praveen Keerthi has told DGCA M Sathiyavathy that the increasing frustration among AI pilots could affect safety. He wrote, "We wonder how you have ignored the working conditions and plight of our pilots, cabin crew, engineers and all other employees due to non-payment of salary and allowances for the almost 32 months, when you were prompt in this aspect in regard of Kingfisher & SpiceJet employees. How is it that not receiving salary is a matter of flight safety for Kingfisher and SpiceJet staff but not for AI?"