Air India pilots seek Civil Aviation Min Hardeep Puri's intervention over hefty pay cut

On Monday, Air India pilots sought the intervention of Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri over the cost-cutting measures initiated amid the COVID-19 crisis. In a letter addressed to him, the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association and the Indian Pilots' Guild complained that the pay of these pilots had been reduced up to 70% in contrast to the 10% pay cut taken by the top management. They complained that Air India's cost-cutting measures are disproportionate as the aviation industry is on the road to recovery. Maintaining that the pilots are extremely troubled by this "unwarranted ordeal", the unions requested an urgent follow-up meeting with Puri.

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Pilots question 'barbaric' austerity measures

In the letter, it was pointed out that the salaries of the Members of Parliament were reduced by 30% for a period of one year to meet the exigencies arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the pilots' associations, this was a recognition of "reasonable time-bound" austerity measures to compensate for the disruption caused due to the lockdown. At the same time, they questioned the applicability of "barbaric" austerity measures to only Air India pilots.

Recalling that Puri had assured them of positively addressing these grievances in the meetings which took place in September, they revealed that the wage cuts of Air India pilots further increased from October. Moreover, the unions highlighted the flip side of the stringent COVID-19 norms for the pilots. For instance, they mentioned that pilots testing positive for COVID-19, who require at least a month to get back to flying, are deprived of their livelihood during this period. 

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COVID-19 crisis in India

Currently, there are 94,31,691 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 88,47,600 patients have recovered while 1,37,139 fatalities have been reported. At the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, passenger international air travel was suspended with effect from March 22. Meanwhile, domestic flight operations stopped from the midnight of March 24. Meanwhile, the Centre commenced the Vande Bharat mission on May 7 to bring back the Indian nationals stranded abroad. From May 25, domestic air operations were allowed in a calibrated manner. Initially, only 33% of the summer schedule was permitted to operate which was subsequently increased to 45% on June 26, 2020, and 60% on September 2, 2020. 

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