New Delhi: Airline pilots will have to give a year’s notice if they want to quit and join another airline, the aviation regulator has ruled.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) B.S. Bhullar said in a 16 August order that it took eight to nine months to train a pilot and that their resignations caused operational disruptions. “It has, therefore, been decided that pilots working in an air transport undertaking shall give a ‘notice period’ of at least one year in respect of commanders, and six months in respect of co-pilots, to the employer indicating his intention to leave the job," he said. So far all pilots had to give a six-month notice period. Some airlines that are expanding slowly are in favour of the new DGCA order but some are against it, said an airline official who asked not to be named.

“One year is too long a period for a company to wait for an employee to join. They will go find people from foreign shores," said All India vice-president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) A.K. Padmanabhan. “The resentment of the pilots is very valid." The matter to extend the notice period being heard in Delhi high court and final court orders are awaited.

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