Air India pilots face financial turbulence

New Delhi: Commander Satish Sharma (name changed), a pilot with Air India (AI), is in a financial mess. Once part of AI’s elite with a fat pay packet and swanky lifestyle, Sharma had to recently take a loan on his bank fixed deposit to pay Rs 80,000 equated monthly installment for a house he bought a few years ago.
“This is the first time I have had to depend on my fixed deposits, but if our full salaries are not paid for another two-three months, I will have to look for a new job. I cannot survive on the minuscule part of my salary that I am getting now,” he says.
Sharma, a senior pilot with a flying experience of 12,000 hours, is troubled because the cash-strapped AI has been paying only 20 per cent of his salary for the last few months. AI has not been able to pay him flying allowance, also called the productivity-linked incentive (PLI), which accounts for a bulk of his pay.
His harrowing experience is shared by the 1,700 other pilots of AI.
The well-paid pilots have been hit more than the others as PLI is a very large part of their pay. However, most were not ready to come on record.
AI pilots who fly domestic get Rs 4 lakh every month, out of which as much as 80 per cent, or Rs 3.2 lakh, is PLI. AI is paying them only the basic salary of Rs 80,000 per month, that is, one-fifth of their total salary.
An AI spokesperson said the airline was in a financial crisis and all employees were facing a financial crunch.
25/07/11 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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Categories: Air India Jul 2011