Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) said the pilots were considering another round of agitation, including a strike, if our problems are not discussed before November 30.
Air India pilots today warned of another agitation, including a strike, if talks on their demand for pay parity and other issues they had raised during their strike in May, were not started before this month end.
Maintaining that the Civil Aviation Ministry had not responded to their letters in the past two months seeking an appointment with minister Vayalar Ravi, Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) said the pilots were considering another round of agitation, including a strike, if our problems are not discussed before November 30.
While productivity-linked incentive (PLI) has not been paid for the past four months, issues relating to pay parity, fixed flying allowance and layover subsistence allowance, have also not been settled as yet, ICPA sources said, adding such a situation was leading to a large number of pilots quitting Air India, which was detrimental to the airline.
"We have been trying to meet him (Ravi) since September, but till date we have not got an appointment. During the last strike, government had assured in writing that the issues would be resolved by November. Till date, nothing has been done," ICPA General Secretary Capt Rishabh Kapur told PTI.
The ICPA has written two letters to the Civil Aviation Minister -- on September 23 and October 7 -- seeking an appointment with Ravi to discuss the issues of parity and irregularities.
The lack of response from the ministry indicates "it is not serious on the word it gave six months ago when we called off our strike," Kapur said.
The ICPA had called off a 10-day strike on May 6 after the government assured them that their demands of pay-parity and other grievances would be considered by the Justice Dharmadhikari Committee by November and its recommendations implemented under a strict time-frame.
Air India pilots had called off their strike on May 6. The strike had resulted in nearly Rs 200 crore loss to the ailing national carrier and disrupted nearly 80 to 90 per cent of domestic operations for 10 days.
In its letters, the ICPA claimed that minutes of the meetings it had with the ministry in May, following which the strike was called off, as well as the interim settlement have not been implemented.
"We would like to make you aware of the grim situation being faced by the employees of Air India and an exodus of pilots, especially captains who take over 10 years to train, that has started in which we are losing pilots in large numbers every month," one ICPA letter to the minister said.
"We request you to call us at the earliest as the situation seems to be getting out of hand with our pilots losing hope and leaving this airline," it said, adding that this exodus would be detrimental to the health of the national carrier.
"We would like to mention here that Justice Dharmadhikari committee report is supposed to be implemented by November 2011, and an assurance to expedite our interim settlement was also committed," the letter said.
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