Pay allowances by Feb 10: Air India pilots

Flying allowance is paid to a pilot on the basis of the number of flight hours he or she has clocked in the month.

“If flying allowance is not paid by 10th of February 2019, we will not take any changes in roster and will maintain CMS (crew management roster) printed roster already issued for the month of February,” stated a letter written on February 3 by the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) and Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG).

According to airline sources, the monthly duty roster has to be changed at last minute if a flight crew member does not show up because of various reasons such as health issues. In such an eventuality, an employee on standby mode has to be called in as a replacement, the sources added. The ICPA represents the pilots who fly the narrow-body aircraft of Air India whereas IPG is the union of pilots who fly wide-body aircraft of the national carrier.

“Over the past one year, the delay in salary and flying allowance has mounted our financial instability and we are unable to cope with the financial stress,” the February 3 letter of the two unions stated.