AI pilots threaten industrial action

Bangalore: The Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA), which represents 560 Air India line pilots has threatened to go on an agitation protesting what it calls “partiality or discrimination” against one of its members, vis-À-vis an executive or managerial pilot.
Pilots owing allegiance to the ICPA are from the erstwhile Indian Airlines and mostly fly Air India’s domestic routes.
In a letter dated February 26 and addressed to Air India’s Executive Director (Operations), the ICPA has cited the case of Atulya Kumar, Deputy General Manager, Eastern Region who according to the ICPA had “refused to operate a schedule flight which he was rostered to operate.”
The ICPA letter states that the incident (on February 23 during a Kolkata-Dimapur flight) caused inconvenience to other operating and roster personnel.” It further states that this is “not the first instance where this particular pilot has conducted himself in an irresponsible manner.”
Drawing a parallel between Capt. Kumar’s case where the Air India management, the ICPA claims chose to take no action, and the case of one of its (ICPA) own members – Capt. J. David Ravi - whose services were terminated for not operating a flight, the ICPA is crying foul, terming it as “partiality and discrimination against its member.”
28/02/10 Ravi Sharma/The Hindu

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Categories: Air India Domestic Feb 2010, NACIL Feb 2010