Some Facts of the Air India Pilots Agitation:
1. Air India pilots not paid for the last 5 months. Yet they continue to operate flights out of concern for the passengers and goodwill towards the company.
2. Rather than appreciate this gesture of the employees, the management goes ahead and takes arbitrary decisions granting special benefits to the pilots of Indian Airlines at the expense of the pilots of Air India.
Example 1: Even though the company has been making losses and is unable to pay salaries to 30000 odd employees, in November 2011, the management give a salary raise (1lakh to 1.5 lakhs per pilot per month) to the 800 odd pilots of Indian Airlines. This proves the bias of the AI management towards the pilots of Indian Airlines.
Example 2: Co-Pilots of Indian Airlines are promoted to Commander’s grade in 6 years. Co-pilots of Air India are promoted to Commander’s grade in 10 years.
3. Deeply distressed by this attitude of the management, the pilots raise their issues with the management, demanding fair treatment and equal opportunity on par with the pilots of Indian Airlines. The management refuses to even hear the concerns of the Air India pilots.
4. Nonpayment of salaries combined with this discriminatory treatment causes severe mental stress in the minds of the pilots. They are too mentally disturbed, and therefore not in the right frame of mind to operate flights. Keeping in mind the safety of passengers, they inform the company that they are unable to operate flights due to this mental stress.
5. To reiterate, the pilots are not on strike, they are simply not in the right frame of mind to safely operate a flight.
6. Within 12 hours of the pilot’s refusal to operate flights the management issues termination letters to the pilots, without even giving them an opportunity to explain their grievances and even without ascertaining the nature of their illness.
7. The agitation has now gone on for 32 days. In these 32 days, the management has been missing in action. They have not met the striking pilots even once. The pilots have repeatedly approached the management for talks and to end the impasse, but the management has refused to speak with the pilots. Therefore the stalemate continues………..
Questions for the Hon’ble Minister
1. Mr. Ajit Singh is the minister for Civil Aviation not minister only for Air India. Why has he been talking to media rather than letting the management speak and hold them accountable for the mess at Air India?
2. The Government negotiates with banned outfits and terrorist organization, but the minister refuses to talk to pilots of Air India, who have worked in the past even without getting salaries?
3. By not talking to the pilots the agitation has prolonged for 32 days, the private airlines like Jet Airways and Emirates, are benefitting. Therefore the minister’s stubborn stance of not talking has caused losses to the national airline, while benefitting private airlines. Have the private airlines bribed the minister to prolong the agitation and keep Air India grounded so that they benefit as a result?
4. Air India pilots are highly trained and experienced. Air India has spent close to Rs. 1 Crore to train each pilot. Now the minister wants to sack these highly experienced and highly trained 100 pilots. Air India has spent close to 100 crores to train these pilots. By sacking these pilots, Air India stands to lose 100 crores. How can the minister be allowed to waste public money is such an arbitrary manner?
5. The minister proposes to hire 100 new pilots. The cost of training these 100 pilots is 100 crores (Rs. 1 crore per pilot). Who is accountable for this wasteful expenditure?
6. The minister proposes to hire foreign pilots to replace the 100 sacked pilots. Each foreign pilot is payed Rs 12 lakhs per month with 5 star hotel accommodation. The cost to company of a foreign pilot is nearly double that of an Indian Pilot. Despite this the minister still insists on hiring foreign pilots. Who is accountable for this wastage of public money?
7. Senior retired Air India executives own/work for foreign pilot recruitment agencies. There is a strong possibility of an element of kickbacks and bribes involved in the recruitment of foreign pilots. Is the minister’s intention on prolonging the agitation to justify the recruitment of foreigners??
8. The pilots agitation has been going on 32 days, out of 20 Boeing 777s ONLY 5 are currently flying due to the agitation. Despite this the minister says that flight operations are normal. Is the minister misleading the country??
9. Each Boeing 777 costs approximately 1000 crores. 15 of these aircrafts, costing 15000 crores are currently sitting on ground due to the agitation. Rather than initiate a dialogue, the minister is acting stubborn as a result the agitation continues. Who is responsible for the resulting losses??
10. The present agitation has resulted in losses of 300 crores. However in the last 5 years, Air India has incurred losses of ONE LAKH CRORES. The officials responsible for these losses are the bureaucrats of the civil aviation ministry, the bureaucrats who are deputed to Air India as CMDs and the management of Air India. Till date none of these officials have been held accountable for their decisions which have resulted in these losses. The minister is blaming the pilots for the loss of 300 crores but he says nothing about the bureaucrats who have caused the ONE LAKH Crore Loss to Air India!
The Air India Pilots are fighting for Truth, Clarity and Fairness in work, in an aviation scenario riddled with so many wrongs.
They hope that Truth shall prevail .... and the struggle will continue, trying to make working with, and in Air India, safe and secure for all.