Pilot needn’t serve notice if not paid, Directorate General of Civil Aviation says

NEW DELHI: Airlines who default on their service condition agreements, like payment of salaries, with their employees could end up losing their valuable HR resources like pilots without any notice period.

The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) had last week asked Indian airlines to give a list of commanders who had quit without giving the mandatory six-month notice period and joined foreign carriers. The regulator had warned that such pilot could end up losing their licenses.

Predictably, this decision was panned by pilots who questioned the DGCA threat to their license. The reason: Many of them had quit as their Indian employer airline had unilaterally cut salaries, defaulted on payment or did not meet other service conditions.

Following this outcry, a senior DGCA official has now said that both the commanders and employer airlines must fulfill contractual obligations to each other. "If an airline has not kept its part of the contractual obligation or service condition with the pilots, their contract has been breached. Citing this breach, such pilots can leave without serving the notice period and no action will be taken against them," said an official.

The change of heart has happened right in time for pilots. The regulator has issued show cause notice to 16 commanders of a low cost carrier who quit without giving the six-month notice. "We have served show cause, asking them why action against them (read suspension of license) should not be taken against them. If they are able to prove that the airline breached its part of the contract then no action will be taken," said the official.

Senior pilots complain that some Indian carriers who are facing a serious cash crunch have salary dues. "They create all types of hurdles in letting us go. Getting a no objection certificate from some airline for leaving is almost impossible. Now they have made life tougher for us by getting the DGCA to ask airlines to submit a list of people who left without giving the show cause notice," said a pilot of a financially struggling Indian carrier that is notorious for not letting pilots go easily.

Existing Indian carriers are getting increasingly edgy about retaining pilots as Gulf carriers are paying them almost double — tax free! "One Gulf carrier held road shows in Delhi and Mumbai recently. While hundreds turned up for their interview, few could join as our airlines did not let us go. No airline is going to be willing to wait for six months for a pilot to join it," said a commander.

Also, with new players like Tata-Singapore Airlines (possibly the most awaited airline launches for job seekers) and Tata-AirAsia is hiring pilots, most of who are going from the existing carriers. The pilot community views the DGCA threat to their licenses at such a time a strong arm tactic by airlines to prevent them from leaving.

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