Government’s indecisiveness on striking pilots hits Air India operations

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh’s threat to sack the rest of the 300 pilots on strike seems to be coming hollow. Till now 101 pilots have been terminated and their compensatory pay cheques have also been given. But, a decision on the rest of the pilots still hangs in balance as the Air India management and the Ministry of Civil Aviation are yet to take a final call on their future.

Meanwhile, the near 100 executives pilots, who have been filling in for the pilots on strike, have now started showing signs of stress and fatigue. In a letter to Ajit Singh and Air India CMD Rohit Nandan, they have expressed their inability to carry on with the contingency plan as they were getting worked out. As these executive pilots are keeping the airline’s fleet afloat, administration and training work at the airline has come to a grinding halt.

“The pilots have not come to work for over 30 days now. How long do they expect us to wait for them to resume duty? If the situation doesn’t change the rest of the 300 pilots may also be terminated. But that decision will be taken by the AI management,” Ajit Singh had said, despite the fact the pilots have refused to relent.

However, Nandan has been asked by the ministry not to come out with conciliatory statements like, “We appeal to the pilots to come back.”

Sources feel that the pending decision to terminate the other 300 pilots suits every one primarily because the airline needs the pilots, for the management to train new pilots would not only be expensive but will also take a long time to produce commanders from co-pilots.

The decision has been kept in abeyance as Nandan was in Beijing for the annual IATA meeting. “But the reality remains, all pilots can’t just be terminated just as the airline does not have the wherewithal to produce commanders overnight,” said a senior official with the airline requesting anonymity.

Despite the Delhi High Court order to the management to pay the overdue salaries of the pilots, the ministry officials and the management are not worried.

Air India’s advertisement for new pilots expires in July and is for Indian nationals only. Even if the company wants to take expats, there are a few who want to join the airline given the reputation of poor pay masters that the airline has gained. In fact, many expats left the airline because many remained unpaid.

http://newindianexpress.com/business/news/article543759.ece