Pilots mull forming joint forum to fight discrimination

Concerned over the increasing number of cases in which DGCA acted against the cockpit crew, the domestic pilots' community is mulling to forge a common forum to fight against the alleged discriminatory policies of the aviation regulator, sources said here.
The forum under consideration is likely to be drawn up on the lines of the domestic airlines' pressure group, Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), and act as a "voice" on behalf of the pilots in the country, a pilot working with a domestic airline told PTI here.
"Whenever an incident happens, the axe falls on the pilots in the form of one action or other by both the regulator and the airlines management. But we have never heard DGCA taking action against any airline whether it is the issue of non-payment of salaries or mass lay-offs," the pilot alleged.

While the domestic airlines have formed a platform and lobby jointly whenever some decision or policy goes against their interests, the cockpit crew members in the country do not have any such platform, the pilot said on condition of anonymity.
So, some pilots have taken the initiative and are currently engaged in discussions with other pilots from across carriers to form a joint forum and take on the challenges together, he said.
The idea comes up in the backdrop of recent suspension of two Jet Airways pilots by the DGCA after their flight with 280 passengers on board plunged by over 5,000 feet while flying over Turkish airspace last week as the commander was allegedly asleep and the co-pilot busy with the iPad containing flight information.

Also, the DGCA had served notices to some IndiGo and GoAir pilots for not serving the mandatory notice period and missing the training respectively.
"The joint forum will become a reality soon as pilots from across airlines are expected to come under the platform to fight against the discriminatory policies of the aviation regulator and the airline managements," the pilot said.