Almost five years after the merger of two state-run airlines, a report on integration of about 29,000 employees of unified Air India, including pilots, cabin crew and engineers, was submitted to the Civil Aviation Ministry today.
Former Supreme Court judge, Justice D M Dharmadhikari, who headed a four-member committee, submitted the report to Civil Aviation Minister Mr Ajit Singh here.
“They have submitted the report today. We will examine it,” Mr Singh told PTI.
Asked whether there was any timeline for its implementation, the Minister said, “They have just submitted the report. It is a very complicated issue. They have deliberated over the last six months on this. It’s more than 100 pages and there are so many people involved in it — the pilots, the other people in the airline management. The Ministry will examine the report and then do whatever that needs to be done.”
Though details of the report were not available immediately, the Dharmadhikari Committee is understood to have made several recommendations on critical issues like career progression, integration across various cadres, rationalisation of their pay scale, allowances and incentives and overall restructuring of the entire staff of the erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India.
As on December 31, last year, the total staff strength of the carrier, which was merged in March 2007, stood at 28,500.
Besides Justice Dharmadhikari, the Committee had Prof Ravindra H Dholakia of IIM Ahmedabad, Mr Rajeshwar Dayal, expert on public sector employees’ service matters and senior Civil Aviation Ministry official Mr Syed Nasir Ali, as its members.
The Committee is understood to have tried to bring the wage structure of the merged organisation strictly under legal parameters, so that it conforms with the guidelines of the Department of Public Enterprises, which caters to other public sector undertakings.
The panel, which took nine months to submit its report, interacted with all stakeholders, including various unions and associations of both former companies and their management.
Cash-strapped Air India, which has 14 unions representing all sections of its employees, has suffered three strikes since its merger, including two by its pilots.
The thorny issues rose during these agitations included pay parity and career progression between the staffers of the two erstwhile carriers. Delayed payments of salaries and allowances have also been critical issues which have created unrest among the employees, which has led several pilots and other high-skilled staffers to quit.
Almost five years after the merger, the issue of lack of uniformity in pay scales and career progression paths have been causing much heartburn among the staffers.
The government had also acknowledged that Air India’s precarious financial situation had led to delays in resolving HR issues in the airline.
Replying to a question in Parliament last month, former Civil Aviation minister Mr Vayalar Ravi had said, “Some part of the delay in harmonising is due to the critical financial condition being faced by the company as also contentious issues like level-mapping, compensation harmonisation etc. for all employees.”
The recommendation of this Committee “is expected to solve long-standing HR issues which remained inconclusive even after five years of the merger of Indian Airlines and Air India,” an official spokesperson said.