Why pilots are unhappy with new contracts offered by the Tata Group. MC Explains

Airline Pilots

The Tata Group's airlines, Vistara and Air India, each faced employee unrest over the past year as they look to expand operations. Unrest among the pilots of both airlines was triggered when the management offered them new contracts.

The Air India pilots, represented by two unions, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association and the Indian Pilots Guild, called for 'industrial unrest' in April last year if the airline forced them to accept or sign the new terms and conditions. Eventually, they backed down and the majority of them signed the new contracts.

In a rerun, pilots at Vistara called in sick in the last week of March as a form of protest against new contracts ahead of the planned merger of the airline with Air India.

Both Vistara and Air India operate about 320 domestic flights daily. Vistara has a fleet of 70 aircraft and more than 1,100 pilots on its payroll. Air India has 137 aircraft and employs almost 2,400 pilots.

What happened in April 2023?

The Tata Group revamped the pay structure for pilots and cabin crew in April 2023. The Tatas, which took over the airline from the government in January 2022, said then that salaries would be hiked for more than 2,700 pilots across Air India and AIX Connect (including Air Asia India and Air India Express) as well as for more than 5,600 of cabin crew.

The new contracts were part of the airline’s five-year transformation plan Vihaan.AI. The Tata Group increased the per-hour flying rate and the flying allowance (for layovers) and reduced the guaranteed flying allowance component to 40 hours per month from 70 hours a month. Flying allowance constitutes almost 70 percent of a pilot's salary.

The airline also introduced an additional reward to recognise the services of its tenured staff and doubled the stipend for trainee pilots. Two additional levels/designations were introduced — Junior First Officer and Senior Commander.

Eventually, 80-85 percent of Air India's pilots signed the new contracts.

Why are pilots protesting against these contracts?

Pilots with both Air India and Vistara have expressed concern over the reduction in the guaranteed flying allowance component to 40 hours from the industry standard of 70 hours, which they said would result in a monthly pay cut of Rs 1 lakh for First Officers.

"Pilots will get paid on an hourly basis and if a pilot takes a two-week leave they won't be completing 40 hours of flying duty. There's no fixed monthly income for us," a senior pilot told Moneycontrol.

An Air India pilot said the lower guaranteed flying hours has been a cause for concern for junior pilots.

"There have been cases where the promotions and increments of first officers have been delayed by months due to lower flying hours," an Air India pilot said. He added that the lower guaranteed flying hours also discouraged pilots from taking sick leave.

The pilots claimed that the HR department has the power to 'manipulate' the working conditions of pilots.

Workmen vs executive issue

Last year, Air India’s pilot unions sent a legal notice to the management, objecting to a clause in the new contract that said commanders with four-year experience will be designated senior commanders. Their concern was this would take away their right to form unions or strike work.

According to a clause proposed in the new agreement, senior commanders will belong to the executive cadre. Under the rules of the ministry of labour and employment, employees in the workmen category have the right to strike or form a union under the Industrial Disputes Act.

Air India's unions also opposed a clause that mandates pilots to be available for flying or standby duty.

“Any semblance of a work-life balance that pilots may want is now irrelevant and subject to the whims and fancies of company scheduling. We are already under a lot of stress and with an unstable roster which may change daily or hourly. The company now wants to make that the new norm,” the unions had said in a letter to Suresh Dutt Tripathi, head of human resources at Air India last year.

What was the aftermath of the unrest and what are airlines doing?

In the last week of March, Vistara was forced to cancel almost 150 flights and delay more than 200 flights after pilots called in sick. On April 7, Vistara said it was reducing capacity by 10 percent, which is 25-30 flights daily, as the carrier strives to stabilise operations.

Last year, when Air India pilots were at loggerheads with the management over the new contracts, the issue escalated to a level where the pilots reportedly sent a legal notice to the airline, terming the contract "illegal."

What is the DGCA saying?

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has asked Vistara to submit information on delayed and cancelled flights on a daily basis.

The airline has also been asked to comply with provisions related to the “facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights.” These include advance information, refund options, and payment of compensation (if applicable) to passengers.

Additionally, the DGCA said officials are monitoring the situation to ensure there is minimum passenger inconvenience.