Several Air India pilots threatened to stop operating aircraft if the airline failed to clear their flying allowances, PTI reported on Friday. The Indian Commercial Pilots Association claimed that while the air carrier cleared the salaries of other employees in full, although with a delay, it withheld the flying allowances for pilots and cabin crew.
The association said the allowance accounts for a major portion of their salaries. “We would like to inform you if the flying allowance is not paid immediately, we may not be available for flying duties,” the association said in a memorandum to Air India’s director of finance on Friday. “Since the company has paid the salary, the pilots will report to the office for any office duty of their expertise other than flying duties.”
The association represents 700 pilots working with the airline’s Airbus 320 fleet. “Every month we are being ignored while the company pays the rest of the employees in full and does not pay the flying allowance to pilots and cabin crew which forms the major part of our total earnings,” the association said.
On August 11, a report said the airline had delayed its staff salaries for July, citing circumstances “beyond the control of the management”. The commercial pilots’ association said it is the fifth consecutive month that Air India salaries are being delayed. In an earlier communication to the airline, the association requested the management to not separate the flying allowance from the salary.
On August 15, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said the ministry was working on a comprehensive package to make the cash-strapped airline globally competitive again before the Centre divests its shares, Hindustan Times reported.
The government planned to divest 76% stake in Air India, ignoring a parliamentary panel’s recommendation to give the debt-ridden airline five years to revive itself. The proposed stake sale, however, failed to take off after the Centre did not receive any expressions of interest from potential bidders before the May 31 deadline.
Between 2012 and now, Air India has received equity infusion of Rs 27,195.21 crore, the Centre has told the Lok Sabha. The Centre had recently sought approval from Parliament to sanction Rs 980 crore as a supplementary grant to invest in equity shares for Air India during the 2018-’19 financial year.
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