Mumbai: Lured by handsome pay packages and “better” work conditions, flag
carrier Air India’s pilots are taking a flight to the Gulf airlines leading to
a severe shortage of commanders, airlines sources said on Wednesday.
The Gulf carriers were offering over “40 per cent more money” than Air
India, leading the pilots to make a beeline to serve them, sources claimed.
“Many commanders on Boeing 777s have already quit Air India and moved
to airlines like Qatar Airw-ays, Etihad and Emirates in the last few months. As
many as 35 more commanders are all set to take up assignments with these
airlines in the next 2-3 months,” sources added.
Such a drain could lead to “a substantial shortfall of commanders,”
they said.
Air India currently has around 115 commanders to operate the Boeing 777
fleet, comprising 15 B777-300 (Extended Range) and eight B777-200 (Long Range).
Besides, it also has arou-nd 40 executive pilots, who had come to the
airline’s rescue during the two-month long agitation by a section of its pilots
in May.
At the same time, of the 13 sacked pilots who are yet to be reinstated,
five are B777 commanders.
Last Sunday, an Air India Mumbai-Riyadh flight was delayed by 20 hours.
The ai-rline had attributed this de-lay to flight crew shortage.
Qatar and Etihad were offering around `7.50-8.30 lakh per month to
these pil-ots as compared to `4-6 lakh per month being paid by AI to its
commanders, they said. Moreover, free education of three children up to 21
years of age, free medical and housing are the added attractions.
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