New Delhi, June 9:
“Should one partner get all the benefits in a merger?” is the question
that the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), the outfit of the
erstwhile Indian is asking about the reasons behind a section of their Air
India counterparts being on agitation for over a month now.
These pilots have been on agitation protesting various management decisions,
including offering training on the Boeing 787 to pilots from the erstwhile
Indian.
Declining to go on record as they would not like to comment on ‘fellow
travellers', senior ICPA executives told Business Linethat the Boeing
787 was an ideal replacement for the A-330 aircraft and pilots from the
erstwhile Indian should also be given a fair chance to operate it.
AI-Indian merger
Erstwhile, Air India and Indian were merged in April 2007 into the new
entity called Air India. Before that happened, Air India had a different set of
pilots who were mostly flying wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and
Boeing 747 on long-haul routes to the US, Canada, Europe, Far-East and the
Gulf.
Indian had its own set of pilots who largely operated the smaller Airbus
A-320 or the Boeing 737 family of aircraft that were deployed in India and to
neighbouring countries in South Asia, the Gulf and South-East Asia. Further,
erstwhile Air India had ordered 27 Boeing 787 aircraft, the delivery of which
is to start sometime this month.
And herein lies the bone of contention. While conceding that across the
industry, pilots who fly wide-body aircraft get paid more than those who fly
narrow-body aircraft, ICPA sources claimed that in other airlines the pay
disparity is not as much as it is in Air India.
“In foreign airlines this disparity is about Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 net
per month but in Air India it is twice as much,” a senior ICPA official said.
ICPA officials also maintain that flying the Boeing 787 which will be
operational on domestic routes as well will give them a chance to improve their
flying hours. And though they do not spell it out in so many words this will
also add to what they earn every month.
In May last year, ICPA had gone on strike demanding more flying hours so
that they could come closer to the hours that Air India pilots fly.
And now it is the turn of pilots owing allegiance to erstwhile Air India
going on agitation.
“It is exactly like two kids fighting and saying, you have given to one
and not the other… so one says fine I will go stand in a corner. Look beyond
that. You cannot lay claim to one aircraft and say this is mine,” ICPA
officials say.
Pooh-poohing claims that pilots of Indian had got a salary hike, ICPA
sources said that this was an “oversimplification” of facts. “We have improved
our salary structure by ensuring that we get 72 hours of flying a month instead
of 45 hours but we are still not at 80 hours (that AI gets) and our hourly rate
still remains what it was in 2007,” they said.
Salary structure
ICPA officials also pointed out that when pilots start out in Indian and
AI, the salary structure is similar – about Rs 4,500 gross for an hour. But
after 7th or 8th year an Air India pilot gets almost twice as much as a pilot
from the erstwhile Indian.
“This is because their jump per month of service is exponential while
pilots from Indian get Rs 175 per hour for every additional year of service. So
at the end of seven years we get less than Rs 1,000 while an AI pilot gets Rs
7,000-8,000,” they add.
What is also irking ICPA members is the fact that 90 per cent of the
airline's losses are from wide-body aircraft, flown by Air India pilots, and
they are being made to pay for this.
Further, ICPA members also question the logic behind getting foreign
pilots for the wide-body aircraft. “AI will need foreigners to fly the 787. Why
do they prefer a foreigner to us?” they ask.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/article3511681.ece
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