Government has no other option but to sack the striking pilots

11 June, 2012

With the strike by the pilots of Air India entering into its 35th day there are reports that the government may sack the remaining 300 striking pilots and invite fresh job applications as there are no signs of striking pilots resuming their duties. The government had already sacked 100 pilots of the Air India who failed to show up for their duties earlier.

WHEN THIS Citizen Journalist spoke with Kapil Kaul, Aviation Analyst and CEO of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation for Indian subcontinent and Middle East, he said that the Indian government looks very firm to send out a strong signal to the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), and there is a strong possibility that it would sack more pilots striking under the banner of IPG.

By way of being firm on Air India pilots strike and the fact that they have already sacked about 100 pilots, there are possibilities that more would be sacked. They (government) realized that it is very critical to be firm and send strong signals to the union that all the outstanding issues will be sorted out with in the Dharmadhikari Committee report," said Kaul.

I think as of now the government looks very firm on its stance to deal with the pilots and other HR related problems in a very decisive manner. I don't see the government blinking. It looks very much possible that this decision would be forwarded up and more pilots would be sacked. For now the government looks very firm which is a right thing to do,” added Kaul.

Another aviation expert and director of Starair Consulting Harsh Vardhan told this Citizen Journalist that the time has come for the government to take a precipitative decision i.e. compromise with the pilots or sack them as there is no other option.

While adding that both the steps would have their own pros and cons he said that there is a need of conscious decision in the larger interest of the government run airline.

There are implications in both ways. Sacking will bring lots of complications as these are very experienced pilots who can fly Boeing 777 and other aircrafts. However, in case they are not sacked then a message would go outside that the government is tolerating indiscipline by the pilots. So a very conscious decision is needed in the larger interest of the Air India,” said Harsh Vardhan.

Civil Aviation Aviation minister Ajit Singh while speaking to IANS gave the signals that more pilots could be sacked if they don't join their duties soon as it is already more than 30 days. The minister said that the strike is illegal and now it is up to the Air India management to decide for how long these pilots could be on their payrolls without working.

Notably, the Air India pilots went on strike while demanding that the pilots of the Indian Airlines should not be given training to fly Boeing 787 Dreamliners as they fear that it would hurt their career in future.