State-owned Air India’s pilot unions on Friday opposed the 10 per cent cut in employees’ allowances, terming the decision as “unequal” and that goes against the spirit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to the companies to ensure that the salaries of the employees are not slashed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a joint letter to Air India chief Rajiv Bansal on Friday, the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) said the reduction in allowance was against the labour and employment ministry’s advisory to all employers of public or private establishments not to terminate their employees or reduce their wages.
The letter read: ‘By effecting a 10% cut on allowances for all employees, the category that has been affected the most are pilots. Flying related allowances of pilots’ wages, the directors and senior management executives have deviously exempted themselves from any meaningful austerity cut as their allowances are extremely small while pilots and cabin crew who are the front-line warriors flying and risking their lives, are forced to bear the maximum cut.’
