Many Air India pilots have threatened to go on strike to protest against the airline management's move to defer payment of salary for January to February 14.
"We demand that our salaries be disbursed by 5 pm on February 10, failing which we will go on flash strike," Indian Commercial Pilots Association General Secretary (ICPA) Capt Rishabh Kapoor said. Kapoor said that, "the management has deferred the salary twice in this month," and that this was not acceptable.
The ICPA had written to Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi last month saying the airline management was "not serious" about addressing the pilots' concerns and had sought his "urgent intervention". It also said if there was no response from the government, it could go ahead with serving notices for non-cooperation and would take other action soon which could affect flights.
Soon after taking charge last month, Ravi had sought the support of all employees of Air India to restore its lost glory and had said the staff and management should work in coordination to achieve this.
The ICPA represents pilots of what was Indian Airlines and claims it has around 800 non-executive pilots under its umbrella. Another body, the Indian Pilots Guild, represents the cockpit crew of the pre-merger Air India. Together they could control the fate of the national carrier.