Give arrears before going to Tata’s hand, Air India pilots appeal to management
The handover of Air India to Tata Sons can be done any day after Republic Day. After the bidding in October last year, Tata Sons will once again operate Air India. Meanwhile, the airline’s pilots have written to their management seeking rectification of the deduction in their dues. The pilots demanded payment of pending dues and also demanded deduction and arrears from their already paid amount.
In fact, just before Air India was officially handed over to Tata, the airline’s pilots have made this demand. In a letter dated January 24, the pilots said that we appreciate that the company has been trying to settle the dues for a long time, but we are disappointed with the unprofessional way this process is being carried out. Several deductions have been anticipated in the outstanding details of many of our member pilots. We strongly oppose this.
The pilots said that the pilots concerned should have been informed with the reasons for recovery instead of deducting their paid amount. He also pointed out that the details were not provided due to which he was paid the calculated amount. The data on which the recovery is based has not been disclosed. This proves the wrong intention of the management on the eve of the handover.
He also said that this recovery exercise is completely illegal and we demand that these deficiencies be removed and the dues should be paid with immediate effect. In fact, it came after an internal message sent to Air India employees that the closing balance sheet was to be submitted by the end of the day tomorrow for further processing. According to the message, the balance sheet was then to be sent to Tata Sons for review and the airline aims to finalize Tales Pvt.
The pilots warned in the letter that if the issue is not resolved in time, we will have no option but to take legal recourse. This will put unnecessary burden on the new buyer after handover. Air India pilots from both the Airbus unions (Indian Commercial Pilots Guild) and Boeing (Indian Pilots Guild) in their letters late on Monday urged the matter to be resolved.
Earlier, officials said that in an internal message sent to the employees of the company, they have been asked to submit the closing balance sheet by Monday. Thereafter the balance sheet is to be sent to Tata Sons for review. In such a situation, it is expected that by Thursday the airline will be handed over to its new owner. The closing balance sheet as of January 20 is to be made available on January 24 for review by Tata and changes, if any, by Wednesday.
Let us tell you that before independence in the Tata Group, it was established in the year 1932 as Tata Airlines. After this it was nationalized in 1953. They may also have to work on January 26 so that the handover can be done on Thursday, an official said. An Air India spokesperson declined to comment on the entire matter.
