Mumbai: Air India’s pilot unions, IPG and ICPA have urged Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to ‘urgently’ provide financial support to the national carrier. This came amid private airlines’ cry for a bailout package in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Unpaid wages
“The Air India management has not taken paying wages on time seriously for a long time. As of today, we have a wage backlog of three months, having not been paid full wages since February. This is well before the coronavirus crisis began. So the reason of reduced cash flow cannot be used as an excuse. Even our basic salary has not been released on time,” the two unions said in a joint statement.
“The management has completely given up saying there is no money. It has no plans on when and how they can pay our wages without Government support,” they added.
Government intervention necessary
The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) said urgent government intervention is necessary. They pointed out that with an ‘indifferent management’ the backlog of wages will continue to grow. “This situation is simply not sustainable for the national carrier,” they said. “Denial of basic resources for taking care of our families is inexorably leading us to a breaking point,” the unions said.
Appeal to Puri
“We therefore request your urgent action to infuse desperately needed funds into Air India. This should be done at least till such time the privatisation is completed. It will help in sustaining operations as we continue to serve the Nation,” the letter to Puri said.
PTI
