Air India pilots issue 14-day strike notice

Tue, Nov 3 05:59 AM

Pilots from the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) — the union of over 700 pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines — have issued a 14-day strike notice to the management of the national carrier, citing non-payment of outstanding flying allowances that, according to them, has been pending for the past three months and irreconcilable differences with the carrier's management over a host of other issues.

In a letter written to Air India's CMD Arvind Jadhav, pilots from ICPA have issued the 14-days strike notice under Section 22 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Accordingly, the strike will be effective from 5 pm on November 24 if an amicable solution between AI's pilots and management is not reached.

"We firmly believe that all avenues of dialogues, meetings and correspondence with your office and the Central Labour Commissioner have been of little meaning. It is obvious from the managements' conduct that all sincere efforts to develop a constructive and meaningful relationship with the management are futile in spite of our continuous co-operation," pilots wrote in the letter signed by ICPA general secretary Captain R S Ottal.

"We've had enough of begging for our own salaries from the management. We want to finish it off once and for all,"

said an AI pilot. The Air India spokesperson was not available for comment on the issue. However, a senior Air India official said that the pilots' intentions were questionable.

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