Air India pilots warn legal action on dues two days before Tata handover

The development comes two days before the handover of the airline to Tata group

Two days before the handover, Air India unions have raised concerns over various issues, such as a cut in arrears and weight check of cabin crew at airports.

While the pilot unions have complained about “illegal” deduction in arrears and warned of a legal recourse in case the full amount is not paid to them immediately, the cabin crew association has termed the weight and body mass index (BMI) checks at airports as a "violation" of service conditions.

The airline management had imposed a unilateral 25 per cent cut in salaries and allowances of all employees in 2012. 

Subsequently, the airline signed fresh salary agreements with the pilot unions in 2016 and 2018, following directions from the civil aviation ministry. But the arrears of the preceding period were due and are being repaid now in two tranches.

“Multiple deductions and recoveries have been projected in the arrears statement of many of our member pilots. We strongly protest this illegal act. Should there be any reason for recovery or deductions, the pilots concerned should have been intimated with reasons for such recovery. Additionally, the data on which the recovery is based has not been disclosed. This proves the malevolence of the management on the eve of the handover,” the Indian Commercial Pilots Association and the Indian Pilots' Guild said in a joint representation on Monday.

The spokesperson for Air India refused to comment.

The unions have claimed that the recovery exercise is illegal and the amount payable be rewarded with immediate effect. “Should this issue not be settled in a timely manner, then we will have little option but to seek legal recourse,” said the unions.

Independently, the All India Cabin Crew Association and the Air India Employees Union have objected to the weight and BMI checks at airports as part of the new procedure on grooming. “We are not objecting to BMI checks which the crew members have undergone for more than 15 years now. However, the same must be conducted by medical doctors in the privacy of an Air India clinic.

The process of weighing-scale checks dehumanises and denigrates our cabin crew, apart from violating the working conditions,” observed the unions.