india

Updated: Jan 02, 2019 13:29 IST

Pilots flying Air India’s Boeing fleet have opposed the airline’s decision to revise their salaries and bring them on par with pilots operating other aircraft.

The Indian Pilot Guild (IPG), which represents pilots operating the wide-body Boeing fleet, has sent a notice to Air India. The labour commissioner is expected to call the two sides for a reconciliation meeting next week.

“Air India is going ahead with its decision to revise our salaries in accordance with an agreement with the narrow-body Airbus pilots of the airline. We consider this a contempt of court,” said a senior airline pilot.

An Air India spokesperson refused to comment.

A government panel in 2012 recommended a revised pay structure for all airline pilots but in 2014, the Bombay high court asked the airline management to maintain the status quo. In June 2016, Air India’s narrow-body pilot guild, Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), agreed to accept the proposed revised wages but the IPG did not, saying it would slash its pilots’ existing wages by much as 25%.

Subsequently, the salaries of narrow-body aircraft pilots were paid as per the 2016 agreement while the wide-body pilots continued receiving the old salary. In 2017, the IPG agreed to the revised structure which was ultimately rejected by the ministry of civil aviation in November 2018.

According to IPG, it received a letter from the airline, saying they would henceforth be paid the reduced salary. A senior pilot said, “We strongly objected to the package [in 2016] as it entailed a huge reduction. The same package granted a huge increase to the narrow-body aircraft pilots [with a 40% hike]. In October 2017, a revised package was offered to Boeing pilots who accepted them on certain conditions, though it did not lead to a hike.”