Air India pilots to be penalised for bunking


Passengers flying Air India can expect lesser flight delays in future, as the national carrier has introduced penal provision for pilots who report sick two hours before the flight time. 
"Any pilot reporting sick to duty about two hours before the departure time of the flight will be penalised by deducting duration (in terms of hours) of the flight the pilot was to operate for his/her total flying hours," said a senior civil aviation ministry official, who did not want to be identified.
Moreover, pilots will not be eligible for their flying allowance based on 72 hours if they do not fly for a minimum 45 hours a month, the official explained. 

He further said that these rules are part of the wage settlement agreement between the national carrier and its pilots and has been approved by Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju. An Air India official said the idea is to discourage any sort of indiscipline and improve utilisation of pilots and the aircraft. 
"It is very difficult to find a replacement if a pilot reports sick four hours before the departure of a flight. A two hours deadline will surely discourage pilots from skipping work and will improve our fleet and pilot utilisation," said a senior Air India official, who preferred anonymity. 
During the beginning of the year, Air India was reeling under huge flight delays forcing the civil aviation ministry to ask the airline to hire pilots and cabin crew. 
Post hiring, Air India has improved its on-time performance marginally but continues to fly the least number of flights among the domestic carriers in India. According to data shared by the DGCA, Air India flew the least number of its domestic flights (73.1%) among the domestic carriers in November. 
According to the new wage settlement, pilots flying the wide bodied aircraft (long-haul international flights) will see a marginal decline in their salaries and pilots flying single-aisle planes (short-haul international and domestic operations) will see a double digit increase in their pay. 

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