Exec pilots call in sick; will AI opt for partial shutdown?

New Delhi: Between five-to-seven more executive pilots of Air India reported sick on Tuesday, taking the total number of those not reporting for work to 35.

Is the airline looking at a partial shut down, now that 424 pilots affiliated to the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) are not working and of the 120-and-odd executive pilots, 35 have not reported for work?

A senior official in the Ministry of Civil Aviation said if even the executive cadre refused to see reason, the airline may have to shut down international operations for some time. Representatives of executive pilots held a series of meetings with the Air India management and with ministry officials to break the logjam.[caption id=“attachment_349854” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Air India in pilots’ trouble. Reuters”]  [/caption]

Executive pilots are senior members of the airline who, by virtue of their seniority, spend more time doing managerial duty rather than flying under normal circumstances.And since they are part of the management, such pilots are generally not allowed to take part in any industrial action.

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Anyhow, the troubles of Air India refuse to die down. According to pilot sources, the executive pilots have expressed their inability to take on the current workload and unless some negotiations are begun to get the IPG pilots back to work, the former may also begin calling in sick. The IPG pilots have not reported for work since 7 May and it is the executive pilots who have been holding up Air India’s truncated international schedule.

Fresh trouble comes just when the Ministry of Civil Aviation has reportedly decided not to allow the Air India management to issue termination letters to the 323 remaining IPG pilots (101 were terminated earlier) - a move which was seriously being considered till last week. Anyway, IPG pilots have been repeatedly asking the management for reinstatement but the management has held out no guarantees on reinstating all the sacked pilots.

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Meanwhile, senior Air India official played down the crisis. “Even when there was no pilot agitation it was normal for about 11 executive pilots to report sick. Right now we have a situation where some of the executive pilots do not have passports and hence cannot be put on international flights. The ministry official mentioned earlier said it was normal for about 20 percent of the workforce to be on leave for various reasons.

In their meeting with the minister on Sunday night, the executive pilots told Ajit Singh that unless IPG pilots are brought back, they cannot continue to carry the burden of the entire international operations on their own shoulders.

Another senior official in the ministry had said on Monday, “Show me where has FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitation) been violated? We are well within the parameters of FDTL, not once have these pilots been working more than the hours prescribed.” It is interesting to note that while the pilots of all other Indian carriers are allowed rest after eight hours of flying, Air India pilots fly for only six-and-a-half hours before demanding rest. This is as per a specific agreement pilots had forged with the airline earlier.

Also no one in Air India will probably admit to this, but the unrest among all sections of employees perhaps also stems from impending implementation of the Dharmadhikari report, which is expected to reduce the ’take home’ amount for pilots while merging the manpower of the two erstwhile airlines.

Meanwhile, Air India has begun the process of hiring about 100 pilots but this will be a long-drawn-out affair. The advertisement seeking pilots invites applications from qualified commanders and co-pilots for flying Boeing 747/777/737 planes. In a letter to Singh, which was also sent to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) last week, the executive pilots have said thepresentflying schedule is unmaintainable and could jeopardise the safety of passengers as well as crew.

“We wish to place on record that flying the truncated international schedule with just 100 executive pilots is pushing us beyond our limits and we areexperiencingthe symptoms ofcumulative stress and fatigue and will not be able to maintain the schedule for much longer.,” the pilots said.

They also pointed out that in such circumstances, they should not be held responsible for any disruption of flight schedule, further alienating passengers.