Grounded for ‘forging marksheet’, pilot got Rs 1.2 lakh ‘relief’ a month

Being grounded on charges of forgery didn’t hurt at least one Air India pilot, who took home a fat “sustenance allowance” each month, funded by his unpaid colleagues, for around six months, till his licence was revoked.
Captain Arjun Giare, a commander on Airbus fleet, was grounded by the airline in March 2011 after an internal inquiry found that he had submitted a fraudulent marksheet to obtain his commercial pilot licence. As soon as he was de-rostered, a five-member elected panel of the erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots’ union, Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA), put him on a monthly compensation of Rs 1.2 lakh under their “benevolent” scheme.
For this gesture, nearly 250 Delhi-based ICPA members, who along with 30,000-odd other airline employees haven’t been getting their full salaries, took a monthly pay cut of about Rs 500 each, in addition to Rs 500 deducted as ICPA subscription, said sources in the ICPA.
Subsequently, Giare’s flying licence was suspended by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. An inquiry on whether he forged his marksheet or not is still on. Giare, revealed ICPA sources, was paid compensation till October 2011.
This compensation to Giare, sources in the airline said, hasn’t gone down too well with a section of the ICPA members.
26/01/12 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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Categories: Air India Jan 2012