New Delhi: Air India pilot unions have once again written to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday, urging him to convene an urgent meeting over flight safety and working conditions of pilots in the national carrier and its subsidiaries.
Referring to the Kozhikode plane crash, the two unions - Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and the Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG), said, "Pending the findings of the official investigations may we highlight the fact that flight safety and the working conditions of the pilots of Air India group companies cannot be seen in isolation."
"The recently imposed policies imposed by the Air India board imposing steep, disproportionate and retrospective pay cuts specifically targeting pilots across Air India as well as Air India Express and Alliance Air are one such example," the letter further read.
The pilot unions alerted the Civil Aviation Minister over the challenges of Covid-19, monsoon weather, ill-designed Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), several extensions and dispense solutions given by the DGCA.
"Trying to burden the frontline workers with massive pay cuts to safeguard the salaries and perks of senior management add an extra undesirable dimension to the equation," the letter said.
The pilot unions, which had earlier written to Puri on July 27 and August 1 seeking a meeting to discuss pay cuts, urged the minister to treat this as a second reminder for an urgent meeting. "Aviation policymakers are creating a caustic work environment without any reproach or consequence. It is paramount that the safety of the travelling public is not compromised in this you are our singular hope," the letter stated.
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