Air India pilots not to resort to industrial action

Air India pilots' union on Friday said it will not resort to any sort of industrial action from May 10.

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) earlier threatened to undertake industrial action if their flying allowance for the last three months was not paid.

The ICPA is the union of pilots of the erstwhile Indian Airlines. An industrial action by the ICPA's pilots would have hit the domestic operations of the national carrier.

On Thursday, the ICPA wrote to Air India's finance director and demanded their flying allowance for the last three months be paid. The flying allowance constitutes the largest portion of pilots' pay package.

In the letter, the pilots' union threatened not to operate any flights until their dues for January, February and March were paid.

According to the letter, the ICPA threatened to advise its members not to undertake flying duties till their allowances which have been mandated under an agreement with the civil aviation ministry were paid.

In January, the pilots' union and the management entered into an agreement for a new pay structure which ensured pay parity for the ICPA's cadre with the Air India pilots post-merger of the two airlines.

However, the flying allowance under the new pay structure was deferred for payment till May 5. The allowance was still not paid by Thursday.

Sources in the ICPA said that after the letter, the airline's management started paying the flying allowances which has averted the industrial action.

"We have started receiving the flying allowance for March. We do not want to inconvenience the general public or hinder the financial recovery of the airline in any way," a source in the ICPA told IANS.

"We have decided to operate all our flights as per schedule."

--IANS

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