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(Representative image: PTI)
NEW DELHI: Air India (AI) crew members, widely acclaimed as crown warriors for operating rescue flights during the pandemic, are reaching a “breaking point” with their wages owed for the past three months.
As they embark on the Vande Bharat Mission, AI pilots have told aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri that only “lip service” is being done for the airline.
“Without the urgent financial support of the government and with an indifferent management at the helm, the accumulation of our wages will continue to grow. This situation is simply not sustainable for the national carrier. Denial of basic resources to care for our families and those who depend on us inexorably brings us to a breaking point, “the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA, Indian Airlines Pilots Union) said in a letter to Minister Puri.
“Air India has been instrumental in the fight against COVID-19 … from the start … However, at Air India, (caring for employees) you are only paid for the service and the harsh reality forces us to write to you . Management has not been paying wages on time for a long time … we have a three month wage delay, we have not paid full wages since February. This is long before the coronavirus crisis began, so reduced cash flow cannot be used as an excuse. Even our base salary, which is a fraction of our salary, is not released on time. The administration has completely given up saying that there is no money and has no plans on when and how they can pay our wages without government support, “says ICPA.
“The meager income generated by these 64 evacuation flights assigned to Air India is not enough to overcome the company’s financial problems. AI has been in a debt trap due to historical mismanagement … We call for your urgent action to infuse the desperately needed funds into AI, at least until such time as the privatization is complete so that we can maintain operations and continue to serve to the nation. This will also ensure that employees maintain their livelihoods, ”he adds.
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