Half of Air India’s 1,300 pilots are commanders.
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Several Air India flights were delayed after Senior Commanders of the airline “did not report to work”.
As per information, till about 1200 hrs, three flights from Delhi bound for Moscow, Hong Kong and Bhubaneswar has been delayed. “According to the guidelines, a pilot should be given minimum notice of 12 hours before flying”, said a senior pilot at Air India, requesting anonymity. “This is delaying flights and inconveniencing passengers and the image of the national carrier”. “Removal of pilots from this category means they can not go on strikes”.
It is interesting to note that pilot trouble has hit Air India just when the government announced Ashwani Lohani as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), who is slated to take over from outgoing Rohit Nandan.
Air India Spokesperson told mid-day stating that Mumbai was the least affected as only two domestic flights were delayed since morning.
Another Air India official, requesting anonymity, said that many commanders have also reported sick in protest of the labour ministry’s decision to exclude commanders from definition of workmen.
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He said that the protest was against a notification issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry that it will remove commanders from the category of “workmen”, which would entail that they wouldn’t be able to go on a strike.
