Air India refuses to take back some pilots

[1]

Air India has refused to reinstate some of the sacked pilot union leaders who led the recent pilot strike, even though many other sacked pilots have been reinstated so far.

The union leaders belong to the managing committee of the now-derecognised Indian Pilots Guild (IPG). When contacted, one of the prominent IPG office-bearers Capt.

Tausif Mukadam confirmed to this newspaper that he had received a rejection letter from Air India informing him that his request for reinstatement had been rejected.

When contacted, an Air India official said the issue of reinstatement was being decided by a three-member committee which was taking decisions based on certain parameters.

The three-member Air India committee has been interviewing the sacked pilots following which the decision — either to accept their request for reinstatement or reject it — is being taken.

In all, 101 pilots had been sacked earlier during the 58 day-strike of the union Air India pilots flying international routes that ended in the first week of July this year. Of these, about 50 pilots have so far been reinstated so far while five pilots have been rejected.

The remaining sacked pilots, numbering about 40, were interviewed by the three-member committee on Saturday and the results of these interviews would be known in the next few days. Sources said some of the sacked IPG union leaders whose request for reinstatement has been rejected by Air India now are likely to petition the courts against the airline’s decision.

“The Air India management had earlier assured the pilots that there would be no victimisation,” pointed out one of the IPG union leaders