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Jet Indian pilots' union says will not fly with expat pilots from May 1

• NAG referred to some alleged cases of wrong behaviour by expat pilots towards Indian pilots and passengers

• Jet has about 100 expat and 860 Indian commanders for its mixed fleet of Boeing 737, 777; Airbus 330 and ATRs

NEW DELHI: In the first revolt of its kind here, the Indian pilots of Jet Airways have been asked by their union not to fly with the expat pilots in the airline from next month.

National Aviators' Guild (NAG), union of Jet's pilots, on Saturday issued a directive to its members saying they are not to fly with the expats from May 1. Referring to some alleged cases of wrong behaviour by expat pilots+ towards Indian pilots and passengers, NAG directive said: "The safety of our passengers and pilots is of prime importance and these kind of issues cannot be tolerated at all. The expats are also a huge drain on the company's and the nation's finances."

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Jet has about 100 expat and 860 Indians commanders for its mixed fleet of Boeing 737, 777; Airbus 330 and ATRs. In all, the airline has over 1,700 pilots (co-pilots and commanders).

In a statement, Jet said: "Jet Airways is an equal opportunities employer. It employs human capital which is diverse in race, gender, caste, creed or religion. We today, employ a multi-cultural workforce of over 15000 people across the globe and are regarded as an employer of choice in the aviation sector. As an Indian airline operating internationally, Jet Airways has always focused on recruiting the brightest talent and today, has best-in-class cockpit crew from around the world, including a limited (marginal) percentage of expatriate pilots. Jet Airways is committed to offer equal opportunities to all pilots and follows a structured plan for their recruitment based on business outlook."

The NAG directive said: "India has no dearth of talent when it comes to aviation. There are enough and many CPL (commercial pilot licence) holders sitting idle, waiting endlessly, for years on end at times, to get a decent job. While we understand the requirement to hire expats when a new aircraft type is inducted into the company, it has been over 15 years since Jet Airways hired its first expat and we still retain a significant number."

"We feel the management has had more than enough time to replace the expats with Indian national pilots. We therefore demand that all expats be released immediately. We trust the management will understand the angst of our members in this matter and join us in ensuring that we can take pride in being a nationally conscious company. Keeping the safety of our passengers and members in mind, NAG committee hereby issues a directive to all trainers not to conduct training/checking any expats effective April 16, 2017, and line pilots not to fly with expats from May 1, 2017, onwards," it added.