Bangalore: Airline officials have said that many of the flights of the national carrier operated from Bangalore were piloted by contract and executive pilots, who are not on the payroll of the airline.
Bangalore-based pilots of national carrier,numbering almost 40, are reportedly all on strike. They have joined the strike call of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), and have been off work since the midnight of April 26.
“Air India is operating its fleet with pilots who are not on the airline payroll. These pilots include seven co-pilots who are on probation and one pilot on contract,” said an Air India commander, adding that if the standoff between the Air India management and pilots continues for another couple of days, the entire fleet of the national carrier could be grounded.
“These co-pilots and contracted pilots are the only ones who have been flying since the strike began. They will do so for a couple days. After that, they will have to take a break. As per flying norms, pilots will have to take a mandatory day of leave after six days of flying,” the Air India commander explained.
Even as the strike continues, Air India has issued advertisements stating that the strike by its pilots seeking higher emoluments is illegal and unjustified, as a majority of them earn in the range of Rs3.88 lakh and Rs7 lakh per month.
Putting the blame for the strike squarelyon the shoulders of the management, the pilots said that a strike notice had been issued in February. The management did little to hear their pleas or put in place a contingency plan. The process of merger of Indian Airlines with Air India has been going on since 2007, and the pilots of the Indian Airlines have been demanding parity in pay with colleagues from Air India.
02/05/11 Daily News & Analysis
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