The Survival Mantra

Matters seem to have reached a point of no return and the government appears to be finally veering around to the view that “the days of the national carrier are over” and that if the airline is to survive, there is no option but to privatise

The 550-member Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) comprising pilots of pre-merger Air India went on an undeclared strike from May 8, 2012, throwing most international and some domestic operations of the airline out of gear as over 300 pilots reported sick and failed to turn up for work. The beleaguered management of the national carrier called in its executive pilots to operate some of the flights and resorted to “wet lease” of aeroplanes. With these measures, the airline was able to restore operations on the international sector; but only partially. However, sympathy of executive pilots lay with the pilot fraternity as the airline’s Executive Pilot’s Association (EPA) dashed off a letter to the management, endorsing its support to IPG in their agitation, with a veiled threat that if concrete and urgent steps are not taken then “EPA will find it extremely difficult to provide any further cooperation to the company”.

Strikes in public sector enterprises have become a regular feature and hence should no longer come as a surprise. A year ago, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), a faction consisting of pilots of erstwhile Indian, had gone on a strike on account of a dispute over non-payment of emoluments for several months causing huge monetary loss to the airline and inconvenience to the travelling public.

But what is most disconcerting about the latest onslaught on the air passenger is the reason offered this time round by the striking employees for their somewhat inconsiderate move, despite the Delhi High Court ruling declaring the strike as “illegal”. Members of the IPG were peeved over the decision by the management of Air India to include First Officers of the pre-merger domestic carrier Indian for conversion on to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. They are apprehensive that inclusion of First Officers of the ICPA for conversion onto the Dreamliner would seriously impinge on their career progression which in their perception is already skewed distinctly in favour of the latter. Quite unmindful of an order by the honourable Supreme Court earlier laying down the quota for members of IPG and ICPA as 50:50 for training on to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, pilots of the IPG faction have resorted to precipitate action. The striking pilots also allege that certain agreements entered into at the time of the merger ordered five years ago between the domestic and international segments have not been honoured. Apparently, the merger has failed to address issues of critical importance despite the huge expenditure incurred on the completely flawed exercise. Tragically, on this front, the airline has really not progressed beyond having a common letterhead.

If the strike by the ICPA last year had some public sympathy, reaction to the agitation by the IPG has been quite the opposite as no one can possibly be convinced of the logic behind the strike. The striking pilots succeeded in holding the travelling public to ransom, but the management of the airline stood firm in its stance that it was not prepared to consider the offer by the IPG for unconditional talks unless the striking pilots first returned to work. In fact the airline management went on the offensive, sacking over 100 pilots participating in the strike as also taking other actions such as dismissal of 11 office-bearers of the IPG and de-recognition of the union. The management even approached the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for cancellation of flying licence of the 11 members of the IPG who were removed from office. The management also had two employees arrested for allegedly posting derogatory remarks on popular social networking sites against the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Flag, the honourable Supreme Court and leaders of the ICPA. However, none of these provides a permanent solution to the airline’s woes.