Recent news reports on Air India deferring pilots' training for the long-haul Boeing-787 Dreamliner aircraft, which is to be inducted in the airline's fleet by the end of the year, have once again brought to the fore the issue of human resource management between the erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines (IA), and how poorly it has been handled. The two airlines were merged in 2007 to form Air India.
The training was deferred due to protests by the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), a body which represents pilots of the erstwhile Air India, which is claiming first right to train for and fly the Dreamliner. It is also accusing the airline's management of “adopting a discriminatory attitude against them vis-à-vis their erstwhile IA counterparts.”
Pilots from the erstwhile IA, too, are a disgruntled lot. Says Captain A. Singh (name changed) of the erstwhile IA, “When there is a shortage of pilots how can some of them turn around and say that only a few should be allowed to fly a new aircraft which is about to join the fleet?” Another former IA pilot adds, “The massive fleet induction programme from Airbus and Boeing (by IA and Air India respectively) was done keeping in mind the combined pilot strength of the merged entity. How can some people say no to us flying the Boeing aircraft?” On its part, the IPG maintains that the flying experience of IA pilots is far less than that of Air India pilots, so it wants the 1:1 policy for training for the Dreamliner to be changed.
Pilots from Air India base their argument on the fact that before the merger, Air India had ordered the Boeing-787 aircraft, while IA had signed a deal with the rival European aircraft manufacturer, Airbus Industries. Hence, they maintain that since the Boeing- 787s were ordered by Air India, only its pilots should be allowed to fly these aircraft.
16/11/11 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line
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