Presently, Air India operates 47 weekly flights to the US which includes six to Newark and 17 to San Francisco.
Prior to this the airline had acknowledged that there is a limited pool of Boeing 777-rated pilots in India.
They put out advertisements inviting pilots to join the company too.
Air India Exhausting Its Pilots
In the meantime, Air India pilots have accused the airline’s management of making them work beyond scheduled duty hours.
The airline is refusing their leave requests, and indulging in verbal threats, forcing their union to explore options, including a labor strike.
They claim to have the support of more than 65% of the airline’s pilot strength, and have listed details about their grievances, in a two-page letter sent to Air India MD and CEO Campbell Wilson, the Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICAP).
It appears that the Tata group-run airline has been facing repeated issues in the US-India sector, even prompting the former national carrier to slash six weekly flights due to crew shortage.
Ordeal Affecting Flights Schedules
During this time, instances of delayed or canceled flights of Air India are on the rise, especially related to Boeing 777.
For instance, just two weeks ago, a Chicago to Delhi Air India flight was canceled which had stranded nearly 300 passengers at the Chicago airport.
Similarly, two flights between San Francisco and Mumbai on consecutive days ran with a delay of almost three hours last week.
In another instance, a flight from New York to Delhi, whose scheduled departure time was 12.30 pm, took off at 1.58 am earlier this week.
In its defense, ICAP blames the flight delays and cancellation on the severe shortage of pilots in the organization.
When It Comes To Labor Strike
It appears that Air India is short by 90-100 commanders for the Boeing 777 alone, according to its estimates.
According to an ICAP functionary “We made multiple attempts to talk to the management. We also approached the CLC (chief labor commissioner). The only option left for us is a labor strike,”.
In response to all these accusations, an Air India spokesperson said, “there is no recognised union in Air India currently. All channels of communication with employees are open at all times.”
Further, the ICAP functionary said, “as per the DGCA CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement), the ‘weekly rest’ has to be printed on the roster. Air India is forcing the pilots to work also on days which are off days despite protests from the pilots,”.
In the meantime, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved Air India’s request to allow cross-utilisation of its pilots where a 777 pilot could also fly a 787 and vice-versa, at the start of this month
But the IPG-ICAP letter mentioned that “Despite multiple concerns being raised in writing, we have seen little to no action taken to address the systemic deficiencies impacting our operations. We are now in a calamitous situation that requires urgent attention.”
