Air India’s pilot unions fold in standoff with airline, pilots ‘free to sign new contracts’

The unions have called off their standoff with the management a day before the May 12 deadline set by Air India.

Air India’s pilot unions the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) on May 11 folded in their standoff against the airline's new management and have withdrawn opposition to the new employment and wage contract.

In a letter to its member, the IPG and ICPA withdrew their stance and told its members that they are free to sign the new wage contracts offered by the new Tata Group management of Air India.

“Upon the assurances given in the online ‘Townhall Meeting for All Pilots’ and in the interest of the aspirations of Air India, The Tata Group, and our
passengers, the Joint Directive No.01 of 2023, Sub: Unilateral Changes in
Policies stands withdrawn,” the unions said in a letter on May 11.

The decision to withdraw their stance comes after a vote was held among the members of the two unions where almost 80 percent voted in favour of signing the new wage agreement.

The unions will also withdraw the legal notice sent to Air India’s management terming the new employment contract as illegal. The unions had on April 21, sent a legal notice to the company’s management objecting to a clause in the new contract which mandates that commanders with four-year experience will be termed as Senior Commanders.

“While pilots have been coerced into signing the new contracts and most feel like they have no option but to sign with the new deals, sentiments still remain low,” a senior pilot working for Air India told Moneycontrol.

“Pilots are now fearful of their jobs given the current market conditions,” the pilot said.

Another senior pilot said that job security is key for all pilots at a time when airlines are struggling to keep afloat.

The move by the unions comes against the backdrop of the collapse of domestic carrier Go First and the airline's pilots lining up for new jobs at Air India.

Air India had to extend its walk-in interviews for pilots of Airbus A320s — the aircraft type used by Go First — by a day due to the exodus from the airline.

According to industry insiders, Air India has given out employment offers to around 200-300 pilots of Go First in the last week.

The unions have called off their standoff with the management a day before the May 12 deadline set by Air India.

Air India had last week reportedly extended the deadline for pilots, who haven’t yet signed the new contracts to do so by the end of May 12.

The airline has been at loggerheads with two unions that have opposed certain terms and conditions of the revised contracts.

On April 17, the Tata Group-owned carrier came out with a revised compensation package and new service terms and conditions for pilots and cabin crew of Air India, Air India Express and AIX Connect.

According to union sources, Air India changed the conditions unilaterally without consulting the pilots and alleged that they are trying to make all senior pilots executive and thus kill the unions.

Moreover, following the revision, the guaranteed flying allowance component has been doubled from the current 20 hours to 40 hours.

However, it remained much lower compared to the pre-pandemic period when Air India pilots were entitled to a guaranteed 70 hours of flying.

This was the first wage revision by the management of Air India after it was taken over by the Tata group last year and will impact all 3,000 pilots of the four airlines — Air India, Air India Express, Air Asia India and Vistara.

The two unions had rejected the new service terms, saying they were unilateral, draconian and anti-labour.

ICPA represents pilots operating the narrow-body Airbus fleet while IPG has pilots, who fly wide-body Boeing aircraft.