An equity infusion of a mere Rs 1713 crore for 2016-17 as announced in the Budget is hardly sufficient. The Government is credited with the view that Air India must take advantage of the reduced fuel costs and, combined with improved efficiency in performance, end up next fiscal with substantial operating profit. If all goes well, Air India is expected to make a modest operating profit for the first time in a decade.

It is in the fitness of things, therefore, that Air India has started dealing with pilots sternly in regard to their terms and conditions of service and their pay and perks. Pilots are the most important component in the airline industry. Apart from consuming a big portion of airline revenue, pilots can make or mar an airline.

As a first step, and a right one, this year, Air India has decided to increase the surety bond and bank guarantee that pilots need to pay on recruitment to Rs 1 (one) crore from Rs 50 lakh. If a pilot does not pay the money, he must serve the airline for five years. This step has been taken since private airlines lure experienced young pilots soon after they receive training in Air India, saving on training and expenses. Of the Rs 1 crore that a fresh pilot has to pay, Rs 12 lakhs will be taken as bank guarantee and the rest of the amount as a service surety bond.

According to Air India officials, it takes a full year to train a pilot. For planes like Boeing 787, the training period can go up to three years. The AI has to recover the cost as any reputed international carrier does. Air India plans to recruit 530 type rated pilots for 20 new aircraft expected to join the fleet this year. They include new A320 Neo and Boeing 787 aircraft. Currently, AI has 70 pilots under training. During this year, the airline plans to recruit 200 to 250 pilots.

Similarly, from this year, Air India has started offering higher salaries to experienced pilots in line with international standards, but has simultaneously imposed tough conditions, including penalties like pay cuts for reporting late or for missing flights.

The airline’s pilot union Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) has accepted the conditions. But past history shows that the pilots have gone back on their assurances and created trouble for the airline. It happened in the case of erstwhile Indian Airlines during the 90s when ICPA held the then IA to ransom for a long time leaving the airline bleeding.

In the late 1990s, for example, when private airlines like Jet Airways, now defunct East West Airways, among others, were coming up, Indian Airlines pilots used to go on snap strikes frequently threatening to cross over to Jet Airways or East West etc. Indeed, a number of them quit Indian Airlines and went to private carriers on higher pay and perks. It was alleged then that some in the IA top management helped the private carriers come up at the expense of the PSU carrier by “engineering” strikes and agitations.

Air India, therefore, needs to be cautious on pilots’ front and it is necessary that they are reined in once AI has started offering them market salaries and perks. The current directive issued in January is applicable for three and a half years, as per agreement reached with the ICPA. The directive states that the pilots will get guaranteed 70 hours of flying allowances which range upto Rs 4300 per hour for co-pilots and Rs 7100 per hour for commanders. But the guaranteed hours will be payable only if pilots have made themselves available for flying for 150 days over a six month period. Further, the guaranteed payment (for 70 hours) will be made only if the pilots actually fly for at least 40 hours.

All this has been done to maintain discipline among pilots. Of course, the Government has to make room for genuine errors like lack of communication, malfunctioning of gadgets like smartphones and laptops.

After the pilots, Air India needs to bring in line engineers and technicians who play no less role in maintaining airline punctuality in service. These personnel can play havoc as they have done in the past if they are not disciplined. Like in the case of pilots, Air India is obliged to pay standard salaries and perks to them too. What is required is a strong and firm governance. On-time performance greatly depends upon these personnel working in hungars and bays at remote airports.

It has been observed that interpersonal rivalries at the shop floors have played outside to the detriment of the airline. Postings and transfers of these personnel remain a sensitive issue. These must be taken care of professionally in order to avoid heartburns etc. (IPA Service)