Air India Extends Deadline For Pilots To Sign Revised Contracts Amid Union Opposition

Air India has granted its pilots an extended period to review and approve the modified compensation plan, which has faced opposition from two pilot unions.

The airline has allowed pilots to sign new contracts with the updated payment structure until the end of this week. As per a PTI report, this decision to extend was taken on May 9, following a town hall meeting conducted by the airline with several pilots to address their concerns.

According to the report, the town hall gathering on May 4 attracted close to 800 pilots. Captain Rajwinder Singh, the Chief of Operations for Air India, presided over the meeting. The Captain answered all questions about the updated contracts and assured the pilots that no provision would be abused. He spoke about seniority, job advancement, and other relevant themes.

The redesigned structure's initial acceptance deadline was April 30. Regarding the extended deadline, Air India declined to comment. Coincidentally, the announcement of this extension comes soon after Go First abruptly cancelled all of its flights through May 12th, citing "operational reasons." Many of the pilots working there have new career options as a result of the issue at Go First, and many of them are now looking for work elsewhere.

The majority of the pilots had accepted the new contracts, according to Campbell Wilson, the CEO of Air India, who also gushed over the airline's initiatives in bettering employee perks and technology on April 28.

"On the latter front, I'm pleased to report that 90 per cent of cabin crew and a majority of pilots have received and accepted the new compensation package offered last week, which will be back-dated to 1 April 2023," he said.

Pilots at Air India would receive an assured 40 flying hours per month under the revised pay structure, down from the 70 hours they had been promised under the pre-revision and pre-pandemic pay structures. The modification has been resisted by two pilot unions, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG). Since there is "no recognised union in Air India," Air India has refused to acknowledge these unions.