Air India’s executive pilots find representation in salary panel

Mumbai/New Delhi: In a further sign that the Air India management has been forced to step back from its eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with its powerful pilots union, the government on Thursday said that representatives of the national carrier’s executive pilots would be included in a committee that has been set up to examine contentious issues such as salary reductions for around 31,500 Air India employees.
The committee has been asked to submit its report to the board of National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, or Nacil, which operates the Air India fleet, at a meeting scheduled on 14-15 October.
In a telephone chat with Mint, beleaguered Air India chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav said “there is a new committee set up that will look into the recommendations”. He did not divulge further details.
Jadhav’s plan to fly the national carrier back into profitability depends on cost reductions and financial support from the government.
“The future is very bright for Air India. We can turn around the airline with a concrete plan. There are so many wasteful expenditures by the airline at present. If somebody in the company asks me, I am ready to submit it,” V.K. Bhalla, who led the pilots’ strike, said.
01/10/09 P.R. Sanjai and Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Categories: NACIL Oct 2009