Air India pilots threaten another strike

NEW DELHI: Pilots of the troubled national carrier, Air India, have warned the government of another agitation, even a strike, if their demands, relating especially to pay parity which they had raised in May, are not discussed before the end of this month.

The union of erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots, Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), has complained in its letter to aviation minister Vayalar Ravi — a copy of which also sent to the media — that the committee formed to look into pay parity issues has not yet submitted its report.

It was supposed to submit it by the end of this month. “The ICPA has an emergency meeting in Delhi on November 30. We don’t want to go on strike but if this is the attitude of the government, we can’t rule out the possibility,” said an ICPA member.

Another ICPA member, who didn’t want to be identified, said: “We have been trying to meet the minister and the ministry officials for a while now to find out what stage the recommendations are in, but haven’t got any appointment so far. It’s surprising that the government is so concerned about Kingfisher, but not Air India.”

A letter from the union also states that productivity-linked incentive has not been paid for the past four months. Also, the issues relating to pay parity, fixed flying allowance and layover subsistence allowance have not been settled yet. This has led to a many pilots quitting Air India and joining private airlines, the letter added.

The ICPA had written letters to Ravi on September 23, and October 7, seeking an appointment to discuss parity and other irregularities.

The ICPA had called off a 10-day strike on May 6, after the government had assured them that their demands of pay-parity and other grievances would be considered by the Justice Dharmadhikari Committee by November and its recommendations implemented under a strict timeframe.

The 10-day strike cost the airline a revenue loss of Rs 200 crore, which is saddled with a debt of Rs 43,000 crore.