Atc Guild Threatens Strike As Jain Panel Turns Down Demands

The country may be in for another round of flight disruptions with the air traffic controllers (ATCs) threatening to resume their agitation after an experts committee set up by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) rejected all their main demands including special status, higher salaries and more staff.

In its second and final report, the four-member committee headed by former High Court judge J D Jain rejected the claim of the ATCs that the nature of their work was unique and hence they should be accorded special treatment. In the human body, all the organs are equally important and no single organ can claim special privilege, the report stated.

 

Members of the ATC Guild stated that if the AAI goes ahead to implement the recommendations, it would resort to strikes lasting 1-2 hours daily and later intensify it, if necessary. A meeting between the ATC Guild and the AAI chairman and managing director Ranjan Chaterjee early this week proved to be inconclusive.

On April 11, ATCs went on a nationwide strike throwing the entire flight schedule out of gear. It resulted in an estimated loss of around Rs 30 crore for the airlines in one day. On March 31, the ATCs resigned en masse protesting against poor working conditions. They later withdrew their resignations following an assurance from Chaterjee to set up a panel to look into their grievances.

The Jain committee also rejected the demand for better scales of pay and proficiency allowance. The guild has demanded astronomical scales of pay and proficiency allowance which cannot be accepted, it stated.

The committee also turned down the contention of the ATCs that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which equated the responsibilities of the controllers with that of professional pilots on the grounds that the government had not yet ratified these recommendations.

The duties and functions of the ATCs are entirely different and so are the risks involved. The committee, therefore, does not agree with the contention of the ATCs that there should be parity in the scales of pay and allowances between the two, the report stated.

Instead of recruiting more ATCs, the committee asked the AAI to draw the staff from communications discipline and give them necessary training in air traffic control. Admitting that the ATCs work under lot of stress, the panel wanted AAI to increase their strength but without increasing the total staff strength of the authority. It also wanted the communications cadre to be merged with that of ATC cadre.

However, the committee asked the AAI not to suspend any controller without enquiry as soon as an accident takes place. An in-house investigation into the accident should be conducted by the AAI in association with the ATC Guild.

The main objective of such an investigation should be to improve the system and avoid mistakes of the same nature in future.

The committee recommended that the officers handling air traffic control should also undergo physical fitness and mental alertness tests regularly.

The committee also rejected the demand of the ATCs that they should continue to be in-charge of the organisation and management of aerodromes and other related activities.

It agreed with the decision of the erstwhile National Airports Authority that the post of the airport director should also be thrown open to communications, finance, personnel and engineering departments.

It suggested that the airports should be graded into four categories, international airports, airports where single point administration is in practise, airports at less important places and civil enclaves.