Air India cabin crew body meets RLC; rules out strike

MUMBAI: The union of Air India Cabin Crew, who have allegedly not been paid flying allowances since last October, said it was not planning any strike but cannot be blamed if individual members chose to skip work.

A senior official of Air India Cabin Crew Association said they met the Regional Labour Commissioner ( RLC) and apprised him of the "mental trauma" the members had been facing as they had "not been paid flying allowances for the past six months".

"How can we force someone if he or she has to make some immediate monetary arrangements?" the official said. However, he reiterated that the association was not planning any industrial action, but wanted the management to know the members' plight and make immediate payments.

He also termed the reports in a section of the media that some cabin crew who fly on international routes would not be reporting for duty beginning midnight, as "rumour-mongering".

Deploring the management inaction, the official also pointed out that even as the cabin crew were "unpaid", the pilots had been paid flying allowances till December.

There are around 1,200 cabin crew members for AI's international operations. The flying allowances vary from $500 to 1,000 a month.

The official also said they will be meeting the labour commissioner tomorrow again.

When contacted, an AI spokesperson said during the day none of the flights were impacted.

"There is no problem with the domestic operations. But it is too early to say whether there will be some disruptions to the international operation as most of them take place after midnight. We hope no major disruptions though."

The national carrier, with a debt pile of over Rs 67,000 crore, is facing severe funds crunch as it awaits a bailout from the government.