AAI hikes overtime allowance to air traffic controllers

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has raised overtime allowance to encourage air traffic controllers to work extra hours.

The move comes in the wake of International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) inspection of airports in India. During its inspection last month, ICAO had raised concerns about the shortage of air traffic controllers (ATCs) in India. While the current requirement is of 3,500 controllers, there are only about 2,500 controllers supervising air traffic movement in Indian skies.

Because of the shortage, controllers are made to do extra shifts. Till now, they were paid Rs 400-500 for extra duty. The allowance has now been revised upward and controllers would get an additional amount of Rs 270-1,800 for an extra shift. The additional amount would be equivalent to the pro-rata payment of allowances, which are part of the regular salary package.

ATCs earn anywhere between Rs 8,000 and Rs 56,000 in allowances, which form part of the regular salary package. The allowances are paid on the basis of qualifications and duty profile. At airports such as Mumbai or Delhi, controllers get paid “stress allowance” factoring in the high air traffic movement and work load, but the same is not given to controllers at smaller airports.

“It was felt unless the allowances are revised, controllers will not do extra duty voluntarily. Many a times, controllers do over time so that colleagues can avail of leaves. The original demand was for one day extra salary for every extra shift and not just extra allowances, but this was not accepted as this would lead to similar demands from employees from other categories,” said a senior air traffic controller.

The shortage is acute at busy airports in Mumbai. In the past, there were instances when controllers refused to join duties in Mumbai. The reasons include lack of official accommodation, expensive real estate rentals, and high stress level due to high traffic volume.

AAI has just conducted exams to hire 400 controllers and another 136 are under training. The authority hopes to bridge the shortage by 2020 by hiring an additional 1,200 controllers. “The revision in overtime pay is on an ad-hoc basis and would be paid till vacant posts are filled,” said another controller.