The body representing the interests of Air India’s pilots is examining the option of challenging the order of the Directorate
General of Civil Aviation which has changed the notice period that a Commander and co-pilot have to serve before being allowed to quit their job.
Late on Wednesday, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation issued a fresh Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) stipulating that a Commander shall give a ‘notice period’ of at least one year while a co-pilot shall give a six-month notice before quitting an airline. The earlier stipulation was for six-month notice period for pilots.
Sources in the Indian Pilots Guild, the body representing the interests of Air India pilots, confirmed that it was looking at the legal option of challenging the latest DGCA diktat.
Similarly, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association, which looks after the interest of erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots, also confirmed to BusinessLine that it too would be approaching the “judiciary soon”.
“They cannot use us as bonded labour. We are planning a mass protest involving pilots of all the airlines. We will also approach the courts. If required we will also go to Parliament. We do not accept the new CAR,” D. Balaraman, President, National Aviators Guild (NAG) told BusinessLine . NAG is the union of Jet Airways’ Indian pilots.
Kapil Kaul, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, South Asia, said the DGCA’s action was “not legally tenable” and expected it to be set aside by the courts.
“This decision will impact expansion, forward planning and increase costs. All the start-up airlines, including possible strategic investors considering entry due to the 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment rule, will be significantly impacted. Such arbitrary decision-making will create unnecessary entry barriers,” Kaul pointed out. CAPA expects the move to lead to some form of industrial conflict and tension.
The DGCA first laid down a six-month notice period for pilots wanting to quit their current jobs during the Manmohan Singh Government. Till that time each airline was free to stipulate the period that a pilot wanting to resign had to serve before his or her resignation was accepted.
At that time the reasoning for bringing in the six-month notice period was that there was an exodus of pilots from India to airlines in West Asia.
The latest CAR says that the ‘Notice Period’, however, may be reduced if the air transport undertaking provides a ‘No Objection Certificate’ to a pilot and accepts his resignation earlier than the requisite notice period.