Air India Pilots Threaten Mass Protest; Know Why

New Delhi: The Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG) has threatened the airline management of mass protest and industrial unrest.

The demand of the Boeing pilots’ union of Air India is two-fold — arrears have to be settled and total pending amount should not be manipulated with a smaller amount.

IPG pointed out to the Air India management that despite no communication from the airline on arrears, they have been flying at maximum capacity in this festive season.

The debt-ridden national carrier will be taken over by Tata Sons, which last month emerged as highest bidder for the purchase of Air India.

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“At this critical juncture where the international skies have opened up and the domestic demand is steadily rising due to the festive season, the pilots are once again being stretched beyond capacity to cover additional flights. We trust you will ensure that the process of settling arrears is righteously carried out so as to not leave the employees feeling cheated. We are truly optimistic about making a fresh start with our new owners. We urge you not to exploit us employees whilst settling our arrears as that would probably lead to mass protest and industrial unrest just as the company changes hands… the government is committed to settling all outstanding dues with employees pre hand-over,” IPG’s letter stated.

The pilots’ union urged the management not to miss certain points, mentioning the 2006 wage agreement which allocated a monthly Layover Subsistence Allowance (LSA) for pilots and co-pilots.

“Over the years, 25% of these amounts were held back and are still due. The reimbursement of these foreign currency expenses that have been incurred for many years is overdue,” IPG stated, adding that there should be no tax burden on pilots when these arrears are settled.