Pilot Trouble Brewing at Air India
In what may well turn out to be a pointer of things to come, Air India pilots have set November 10 as the deadline for the national carrier to resolve issues pertaining to salary and allowances, failing which they have threatened to embark on a strike starting November 24.
“If issues, including that of pending arrears, are not addressed by November 10, the letter be considered a strike notice,” said the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) in a letter to NACIL Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jadhav.
The ICPA said the letter should be considered as a 14-day notice of strike under section 22 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, “by which strike shall be effective from 1700 hrs of November 24.”
The 800 odd strong ICPA, the non-executive pilots’ body of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, claims that the company has not paid salary allowances, which constitute almost 70-80 per cent of their salary, since August.
Late September, the airline lost over 100 crores as operations were severely hit by 400 executive pilots, who reported sick to protest proposed pay cuts.
