HC notice to Jet, DGCA on foreign pilots

The High Court here has issued a notice to the Jet Airways management, promoter Naresh Goyal, the Union aviation ministry and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the appointment of foreign pilots in the airline.

Jet has been asked to reply by September 16. The Court’s direction today came in response to two different petitions filed by the National Aviators Guild (NAG), the recently formed union of (Indian) pilots in Jet, which just went on strike. The NAG has asked the court to take action against the management for engaging foreign pilots, when there are experienced and senior Indian pilots out of jobs. “This is clearly a violation of DGCA norms,” said the NGA. The guild has also asked the court to closely monitor the operations of Jet Airways, since the airline is allegedly not taking safety of passengers into consideration. The petition stated that on Tuesday, a Jet flight took off from Chennai to Brussels with two pilots, whereas according to DGCA norms there should be three pilots.

“There is a clear violation of the guideline by the Airways and the management has not taken care of safety of passengers. The airline also violated DGCA norms on foreign air crew temporary authorisation (FATA), which states that an airline can engage foreign pilots only if there is a shortage, whereas Jet Airways has sufficient pilots,” said the Guild in its petition.