AI’s decision to hire 197 captains angers pilots

NEW DELHI: Air India’s decision to hire 197 commanders to tide over a crippling crew shortage that is causing huge flight delays may land the airline in an even bigger trouble. The union of Air India (domestic or erstwhile Indian Airlines) pilots has warned the management against going ahead with hiring captains from ‘outside’ as the move “has the potential of creating industrial unrest” — a euphemism for protests like strike.
The union, Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA), wants AI to train and upgrade its co-pilots as captains. Saying that hiring of commanders from outside would be detrimental to their career growth, the union has given the example of Jet Airways whose pilots went on strike in 2010 over the issue of their career progression.
In a letter to aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and airline CMD Rohit Nandan, ICPA general secretary T Praveen Keerthi has blamed the management for the current crew shortage and for failing to act in time to prevent this situation. “We had been shouting regarding the hapless working conditions in AI. (We warned you) about the impending exodus of experienced pilots due to the unresolved issues of parity, illegal holding back of salary and allowances, delayed payments,” the letter says, adding that 150 pilots have quit in recent past.
But the airline did nothing then despite the fact that new planes were joining its fleet almost every other month. “No new aircrafts have suddenly fallen into AI’s lap. The induction of the Airbus A-320s and Boeing 787 has been as per schedule or delayed.... More than 100 pilots left. Still there has been no/very slow command training for the past five to six months despite all in house resources... Any attempt to paradrop contractual pilots from outside will be gross injustice to the pilot cadre of AI,” the letter says.
AI had 1,464 pilots on February 1, 2015. AI has hired 42 pilots in last three years.