Air India pilots' body writes to DGCA about 'stressed' junior pilots in the cockpit

The association said that some 30-odd co-pilots were being 'forced to work overtime' without any remuneration

An Air India pilots’ body has urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to look into the issue of deployment of a section of its “stressed” junior pilots in the cockpit, days after the Germanwings pane crash.

Stating 30-odd co-pilots were being “forced to work overtime” without any remuneration, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), in a letter to the regulator on Thursday, alleged “putting these highly-stressed and financially over-burdened co-pilots in the same cockpit... is a perfect recipe for disaster.”

ICPA represents the narrow-body Airbus A320 pilots in the airline. This is the second time in 10 days that ICPA has red-flagged safety concerns in Air India to the DGCA.

Earlier, it had asked DGCA to ground the airline’s 26-year A-320 fleet, citing safety concerns.

The fresh communication to the regulator comes after the action of Andreas Lubitz, co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed the Airbus A320 plane into the French Alps killing himself and 149 others, last week. Reports, thereafter,  said 27-year-old Lubitz was suffering from depression but had hidden this from his airline, which is a subsidiary of Lufthansa.

The incident has triggered a debate over pilots’ mental health in India, as well.

ICPA said these junior pilots were inducted into Air India from Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Academy on terms of permanent employment, but the management later decided to unilaterally change the terms of employment to one-off contract.

“These co-pilots have been receiving an ad hoc payment for 18 months which amounts to less than 1/3rd of their actual salary. They are being forced to work overtime without any remuneration and are also not allowed to take any leave,” said the letter.

These co-pilots are under immense financial stress as it is affecting their livelihood and the same has been communicated to the management in writing, but to no avail, the pilots’ body said.

Noting a pilot’s job is high-pressure and stressful, ICPA said that “several hundred people’s lives are in jeopardy if a pilot commits a mistake”.

“At times of equipment malfunction, turbulence or emergency, a pilot must remain calm... How can an Air India pilot perform his duties in such a manner when he is already highly stressed?” ICPA asked.

“We hope DGCA will act on this serious flight safety issue with swift action to avert any tragedy,” the letter added.

When contacted, AI officials were not available for comment.