Ajit Singh to striking pilots: Accept turnaround plan or don't come back

New Delhi, June 6:

With passenger carried by Air India on both international and domestic flights rising, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has hardened its stand against the agitating pilots.

“If the striking pilots do not accept the Dharamadhikari committee report, which is part of the turnaround plan for Air India, I do not see any point in them coming back. If terminated pilots want to come back, they will have to apply when Air India issues advertisements,” the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Ajit Singh, said on Wednesday.

The Dharmadhikari Committee was set up to bring about integration of the workforces of former international carrier Air India and domestic carrier Indian post their merger.

For the past one month, a section of Air India pilots belonging to the erstwhile international arm are on an agitation protesting various management decisions including offering training on the Boeing 787 to erstwhile pilots of Indian.

The Minister announced that Air India currently has 90 trainee pilots, of whom 60 are undergoing training and will be available for regular flights in the next 4-5 months. “Air India has also decided to recruit from the domestic and international market,” he said.

Air India officials indicated that the airline will look to hiring about 100 co-pilots. The Minister said that Air India was carrying about 26,000 passengers a day on its domestic flights, which is about the same as was at the start of May before the agitation started. “On the international flights, the airline is carrying around 11,000 passengers a day,” Mr Singh said.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/article3498534.ece