Angry domestic pilots of national carrier Air India plan to meet civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi on Monday to complain about alleged “withholding” of salaries and performance-linked incentives of the domestic pilots by Air India.
The pilots say they could be forced to call for another strike if their dues are “withheld” further. The pilots are demanding the ouster of Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav. Capt. Rishabh Kapur, one of the representatives of the ICPA (the pilots’ union), is planning to meet Mr Ravi on Monday to convey the anguish of the pilots. When contacted, an Air India official maintained that all wages would be paid but that wages for the period of the recent strike would not be paid to those pilots who went on strike since Air India was following the “no work no pay” principle.
The domestic pilots had recently gone on a 10-day strike and had finally called it off after extensive negotiations with the Government. But it seems there is no end to the showdown between the pilots and the Air India management. Recently, the pilots had set a deadline for the airline management to revoke the termination of nine pilots which the Government had earlier agreed to do. Air India then revoked the termination as the deadline was about to expire.
In a letter of protest written by the ICPA to the Air India management, the ICPA claimed that Air India had issued a communication on May 7 that the salaries of only the pilots would be “withheld” in view of the strike.