Air India impending strike.

[weido_salt]

Air India personal to go on strike over late (2 weeks) salaries. Those poor individuals. :yuk:

I don't know why they don't just tow this dinosaur out to sea and sink the damned thing. Nothing but a massive drain on the tax payers money.

It is riddled with the cancer of corruption, nepotism and inefficiency

[Left Wing]

THEY SHOULD ! coz that will kill the airline and good for all in Indian aviation coz only then will there be real open skies..

[Aeronotix]

Hello! Its very much the Govt's (read ministers & bureaucrats) airline, functioning according to ethical democratic principles.

Its BUY the people.:}:}
FAR the people.:}:}
OFF the people.:}:}

And of course s***w the people of their hard earned tax money by keeping on bailing out this monster with a voracious appetite for financial losses.

Aeronotix::rolleyes:

[tangowithtushar]

we will keep rearing it till it suits our agendas is what the politicos have in mind.... if they were really concerned about our money ... i think the govt would have expedited the process of bringing the black money from swiss bank which is enough to make country ten times richer but SADLY we (Indians) have a really short memory... so.. life will go on as usual..:ugh:sigh!!


How netas and Babus bled AI (http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/masala-noodles/entry/no-salary-how-netas-and)

[optimus.Prime]

Rightly said;

Anyway the Airline is going to the dogs, so what if it goes a bit faster!!!!:ok:

As though these bloody Babus give a damn about the Taxpayer's money, by treating the airline & its staff as their personal B***hes!:ugh:

[shanx]

Quite amusing to see Air India employees planning a strike ... despite the fact that they possess God's greatest gift to mankind in Civil Aviation ... JOB SECURITY at the expense of the tax payer (economic situation no bar) !!!!!!!!! :}

[tangowithtushar]

on the other hand.. british airways has asked its employees to work fr 1 month without pay to help the airline fight for its survival **quoting times now** duno how far d news is true...

[Geebz]

I hope they prove me wrong but I don't think they have the balls to strike.

[boeingdream787]

Geebz,The ONLY accurate post so far.
No balls to strike,and no balls to sc**w either! ;)

[weido_salt]

If they do go on strike, they either have very big balls, or are extremely stupid.

[Left Wing]

everyone in Indian aviation is prying really hard for them go on strike... go on tank the sinking airline once for all...

[Sky Dancer]

It's sad to see that the hard earned money of every tax paying Indian goes into bottomless entities like these..:ugh:in normal business English it would be safe to say that Air India is now bankrupt....wonder when people will see the light:}:ok:

[leftseatview]

They are now talking about senior management sacrificing their June/July salary.
I think this is an effort to generate a favourable public perception towards a BAIL OUT PACKAGE which might get passed on the 6th July budget.
i think these PR exercises are TOO LITTLE and TOO LATE
Disinvestment and its consequences are the only hope for Air India/Indian

[IndAir967]

I think this is an effort to generate a favourable public perception towards a BAIL OUT PACKAGE which might get passed on the 6th July budget.


Hmm may be ure rite ...

Disinvestment and its consequences are the only hope for Air India/Indian

Hmm may not be rite..

[Left Wing]

shut it down !...let the pvt Indian airlines fly on their routes the AI staff will be absorbed...:ok:..allow the new airlines to grow the local routes...

[boeingdream787]

You guys HAVE to read this.....
AI won’t pay staff, but spends Rs 12 cr on crockery !

The promise of in-flight luxury could not have come at a worse time for the cash-strapped Maharaja.

While Air India’s staff waits for salaries and the airline seeks a Rs 15,000-crore bailout package from the Centre, it has purchased crockery and cutlery for Rs 12 crore. The new crockery and cutlery has been bought to go with its new menu introduced for business class travellers.

As per a notice issued by the airline’s deputy general manager (in-flight services) on May 29, the new menu and crockery were introduced in flights plying on the Mumbai-Delhi sector from June 1 and would be extended on other flights soon.

The existing crockery would be sold off as scrap.

“The company is making losses. They are asking for help from the government but the new chairman wants to change the crockery,” said an AI official, requesting anonymity. The airline had last purchased crockery in 2007 for Rs 15 crore for the newly acquired Boeing 747 and 777 long-range fleet when V Tulsidas was the chairman.

However, most of the crockery was never used because they did not fit in the oven.

“We either use the oven or use the bowls because the plates do not fit in the oven. The microwave too lay useless because the crockery has gold plating,” complained a senior cabin crew member with the airline.
The airline had also bought expensive mugs to serve tea. “Very few fliers like to have tea in mugs. They lay useless,” he added.

Despite projected losses of Rs 5,000 crore, Air India also introduced new uniforms for its staff from this month. An official Air India spokesperson said the airline could only reply when the department concerned reverts with an explanation, but he failed to specify when.
:D:D:D...

[boeingdream787]

Another one....OMG hold your breath.....!!!

TIMES OF INDIA
Govt: Cash-strapped AI must prune order for new planes
21 Jun 2009
Saurabh Sinha, TNN

NEW DELHI: The government is likely to tell the cash-strapped Air India to prune its order for 111 planes that would cost the exchequer about Rs
44,000 crore. This order was placed three years ago when the aviation industry in India was growing at nearly 30% and the economy booming. But, now, in this slowdown, almost all airlines are struggling to remain afloat and AI is seeking a bailout from the government to survive. Nearly 45 of the ordered planes have already joined the Maharaja's fleet.

A highly placed government official said: "The airline has so far not come up with any concrete or credible plan that shows they have a road map to survive, leave alone emerge stronger. There is talk of AI seeking Rs 10-15,000 crore in support, clearing which is out of question. Being the national carrier we will hold its hand and support it." The Maharaja is going to seek soft loans and equity infusion from the government as it is finding it hard to even meet its working capital like paying salaries.
The demand made by the national carrier to the government comes in the wake of its orders for 111 new planes worth over Rs 45,000 crore against a puny paid-up capital of Rs 145 crore and authorised capital of Rs 1,500 crore.


Top official added that given the airline's poor financial health and the fact that aviation industry is unlikely to see any drastic improvement in fortunes in a hurry, AI will be asked to take a relook at its fleet acquisition plan. "AI should realistically assess if its needs all the 111 ordered planes. It needs to see if some planes can be cancelled or at least deliveries pushed back," the official said. As per the original schedule, the new fleet delivery was to be completed by 2011.

The government is worried how AI would mobilize Rs 44,000 crore for these planes. It has given a sovereign guarantee to the aircraft manufacturers, which means that if the airline can't pay for any reasons, the exchequer will have to bear the burden.

[tangowithtushar]

ouch!!:ugh: that hurts. LEFT is out of the government this year.. so they wont be there to fiddle with the govt policies.. so i guess if we dont take decisive steps about this cash guzzler whilst the LEFT front is away we never will...

[Schumi - Red Baron]

I think that AI should go bankrupt... Govt. should not save them... :mad:
Corrupt, inefficient AI...

There are other airlines waiting to take up the routes and the qualified people currently employed by AI...

[cyrilroy21]

I think i somebody should call in Lalu Prasad Yadav :ok:

He might be able to do to Air India what he did for the Indian Railway:)

[cyrilroy21]

I think i somebody should call in Lalu Prasad Yadav :ok:

He might be able to do to Air India what he did for the Indian Railway:)

[IndAir967]

I think i somebody should call in Lalu Prasad Yadav http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gif

He might be able to do to Air India what he did for the Indian Railwayhttp://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/smile.gif


U mean the issuing of Life Time Gold Pass for himself and his family :E!

[optimus.Prime]

Yeah, and with Laloo :mad: at the helm,

we'd soon have the "Garib Rath Airlines" too!:ugh:

[leftseatview]

Strike called off based on assurance not to defer pay of lower rung staff.
Major shift in thought process on the part of employees,and big time downsizing of management........thats the only way to arrest Air India's free fall.
Would be a miracle if they are found to be upto the challenge.

[TopTup]

AI pay for the experienced expat pilots but don't utilise them. Keep them doing NOTHING for days / weeks on end (not during req'd rest periods) at hotels in DEL or BOM then pax them home without being used on a flight.
4 hr scheduled sessions at Jet sim centre but instructors habitually arrive late & only 2.5 hrs used.
Take sometimes 18 months for new pilot to be checked to line. Full pay.
Send 4 cars to pick up 4 pilots all going from same hotel to same airport, same flight.
Pilots refuse to travel with cabin crew from same hotel to same airport for same flight therefore demand own transport.
AI Ops Santa Cruz = retirement village for ex Wng Cmdrs & Grp Capts (sorry, that's ex air force NAVIGATORS!) doing NOTHING day in, day out.
Incompetant, ill trained middle management.
Oudated systems: paperwork filled out in TRIPLICATE with carbon in between sheets went out with typewriters (which are also still used!)
Inefficient rostering due schedulers not giving up the bribes they receive by bowing down to highest bidders and arrogant senior pilots' demands.
G'ment ministers using AI as personal perk.
Free travel on AI for "management" Cmdrs (of which they ALL seem to be!!) and their familes. Not mention "management" staff....
"Servants" wandering the halls of buildings providing tea, meals, etc on demand. Arrogance?
Pilots refusing to lift their own baggage off the carosel till a porter waits on them hand and foot. Arrogance?
Poorly trained pilots unable to plan simple constant descent profiles at low thrust to save fuel. Instead fly level for xx track miles to intercept glidepath.
3 x Cmdrs on a flight while FOs sit at 5 star hotels doing NOTHING.
Work hours at AI Ops Santa Cruz begins at 9.30 am, lunch from 12-2 pm, finish at 4 pm. The real case: work starts at 9.45/10 am, lunch at 11.30/45 - 2.30, leave at 3.45/4pm. Just try calling to prove me right!


Nothing I've written is without FACT. It would be interesting to scuttle the airline and make staff (ALL!) re-apply for their jobs in a private ACCOUNTABLE (!!!) airline. ACCOUNTABILITY?? HA!!!! :ugh: :yuk: :ok::ok::ok:

[tangowithtushar]

great post sir:D
its an eyewash for everyone who used to associate AIR INDIA with national pride... tsk tsk.. and the point you mentioned about pilots not picking up their bags .. appalling.. really where is the accountability.... after an RTI PIL into mayawati's statues .. next thing we need is a PIL into air india's expenses
The best strategy would be to evaluate professionally how the Air India has been performing on various fronts, and take a strict action in restructuring, possibly even selling off the whole airline. It is totally unreasonable to pay tax-payers' money at such a scale to those who have cared least for performance over a long period of time...but really who cares... nobody wants to kill the hen that lays golden eggs fr them right ??

[rdr]

this post is an excellent insight into which we all knew was taking place. it should be forwarded to the press, who i feel may not publish it as some aviation correspondents there too are being paid off.

[ExpClimb]

amazing work of fiction. i may add, please do write professionally, your "facts" are almost beliveable

[Al Fakhem]

AI employees on strike? I had never noticed that they performed any real work. But it will give them more time for their second job.

[TopTup]

ExpClimb:

Please indicate which of any of my points is untruthful? If I am wrong in any of them then enlighten us all. Nothing I wrote was without first hand witness and experience.
To quote you: "what it needs is the same as any other airline would. honest leadership and a good weeding of non performing employee/and assets unfortunately it has none of the former and plenty of the latter."

So, start the weeding! All you who bribe for your roster, arrive habitually late for work, demand servants and porters to waite after you, smoke in the cockpit, keep the cockpit door unlocked (ie deliberately and methodically break world MINIMUM standards let alone company SOPs), TRI's / TRE's arriving late for sims and passing pilots who should be failed.... Yeah ExpClimb: let the weeding begin!!!

It's always someone else's fault, eh?

I hear from colleages still at the quagmire of corruption and lowly standards that the new CMD is a real piece of work, that contract T & C's have been habitually ignored and that he views the expats to be used as "strike busters" if needed. After the way I was and those still there are treated by the local pilot community they now want expat pilot support in their cause? Now that will be funny! The epitome of arrogance. You AI pilots HATE the expat pilots' existance and treat the expat FO's as scum despite the experience they bought with them to that RHS, now you want them all to stand up for you?:D

You can't repeatedly kick a dog, spit in his face for month after month, year after year and then not expect it to not want to bite.

Surely AI could employ more 200 hr commercial pilots to fill both left and right seat jobs in the 777's? Safety, training and "standards" have never been a concern in the past.

Good luck! Maybe what is happening to AI and the pilots is called karma?

If it looks like a rat, smeels like rat, behaves like a rat and is as diseased as a rat, perhaps it is a rat.