With the agitation by sections of pilots entering its 30th day and there being no sign of a breakthrough, the General Secretary, Indian Pilots Guild, Captain E.A. Kapadia, outlines what promoted the action by pilots. Excerpts from an email interview:
What is the root cause of IPG members going on an industrial action?
Since the merger in 2007, the management has routinely been passing on benefits to the pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines while discriminating against the pilots of erstwhile Air India. Since the merger, the following benefits have accrued to the pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines;
a)
Further, the demand of common pay scales, ignores the international precedent, such as Lufthansa, British Airways, American Airlines, wherein different pay scales exist for domestic and international pilots. In May 2011, the erstwhile IA pilots demanded a salary raise and struck work. On 6 May 2011, the officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation entered into in agreement with the pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines assuring them that their demand for salary raise would be met.
In November 2011, the management entered into a fresh agreement with the pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines granting them a salary raise of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh for one pilot for one month.
According to the Government guidelines, a PSU has to generate profits for three years prior to giving a salary raise. Far from making profits, Air India has not been able to even pay salaries on time for its 30,000 odd employees. In light of this, the salary raise given to the 800 odd pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines, demands a CVC inquiry and a probe by the CAG.
Further, the Dharmadhikari Committee was supposed to harmonise the pay scales of the employees of the two erstwhile airlines. It is inexplicable that the management hurriedly granted a salary raise to the pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines, even before the findings of the Dharmadhikari Committee are known.
b) Disparity in career progression prospects : Even five years after the merger, the management has been discriminating against the pilots of erstwhile Air India vis-a-vis the pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines. For example, a pilot who has joined the erstwhile Indian Airlines in 2006, has already been promoted to Commander's grade, whereas a pilot who joined erstwhile Air India in 2003, is still awaiting the same promotion.
The above examples illustrate the discriminatory attitude of the Air India management. It is this attitude of the Air India management that has caused distress amongst the pilots of erstwhile Air India and has precipitated in the present agitation.
Is the management decision to send pilots of erstwhile Indian for training to fly the Boeing 787 one of the reasons for the IPG action.
With respect to the training on the Boeing 787, the management's decision to train Airbus pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines on the Boeing 787 completely ignores the cost aspect of the said training. For an Airbus pilot of erstwhile Indian Airlines to be trained on the Boeing 787 costs about Rs 1 crore; whereas, for a Boeing pilot from erstwhile Air India, it costs about Rs 30 lakh. Further, from a flight safety perspective, international Airlines, such as Emirates discourage the cross utilisation of crew between Airbus and Boeing aircrafts.
Last year pilots owing allegiance to Indian Commercial Pilots Association stuck work just as the season was starting. This time it is the turn of AI pilots. Why do pilots pick only the start of the season to register their protest?
It is the duty of the management and the Human Resources Department to address the issues and concerns of the employees in an amicable manner. In the last 4-5 years, there have been numerous agitations in Air India, involving different categories of employees. The regularity with which these agitations occur highlights the utter failure of the human resources department.
At least 68 of your colleagues are said to be in contempt of court for continuing to not report for work despite the Court directing them to return to work. How will you tackle that issue.
The pilots have not been paid salaries and/or allowances for the last 4 months. This has resulted in tremendous stress as they are unable to meet their financial commitments such as home loans etc. In fact one of our members has put his house on sale, as he is unable to re-pay the EMIs, due to irregularity in the payment of salaries. Therefore, it is established that the pilots are under severe mental strain.
The safe operation of an aircraft requires the pilot to be in optimum physical and mental health.
If a pilot is forced to operate an aircraft while he is under mental strain, this can severely compromise the safety of the passengers, and the crew on board.
At present, the three licensed category – pilots, engineers and cabin crew—who number about 20 per cent of the work force account for about 80 per cent of the annual salary bill. Does IPG fear this will change with the implementation of the Dharamadhikari committee report.
Pilots, engineers and cabin crew, are highly specialised employees. The remuneration paid to them is commensurate with their technical qualification, experience and the responsibilities that they shoulder. Further, the salaries paid are in line with global airline standards.
Having said that, as responsible employees, we are fully aware of the distress facing the company and are more than willing to shoulder the burden. While the employees are fully accountable, we expect the management to share the same accountability. There is a feeling that Air India has too many pilots. Despite almost 100 of your colleagues terminated, the airline is operating 38 daily international flights down from 45 earlier. How do you respond?
In the last 5 years, pilots have not been granted leave according to their entitlement. The reason cited for this denial of leave was shortage of pilots. In addition to this, Air India has recruited expatriate pilots on contract, and has been continuously recruiting pilots. This proves that indeed there exists a shortage of qualified pilots.
Further in his statement on June 2, the CMD stated that Air India requires all the pilots to return back in order for the airline to survive in the long run.