NEW DELHI: The debt-ridden Air India may slash salaries of about 5,000 of its employees, including pilots and engineers, following a rationalisation of wages.
A committee constituted to look into issues of integration of the national airline with the state-owned domestic carrier Indian Airlines is likely to recommend wage cuts in its report due by the end of the month.
"Almost 85% of the employees won't see a change in their pay, but 15%, including licensed categories and some flying staff, would," Justice DM Dharmadhikari, a retired judge of the Supreme Court who heads the committee set up last April, told ET. "We are trying to bring the wage structure of the organisation strictly under legal parameters, so that it conforms with the guidelines of the Department of Public Enterprises."
Air India, saddled with a debt of Rs 43,000 crore, has not been able to pay its 33,000 employees for the past three months.
Another member, who did not wish to be named, said that since several pilots have quit Air India due to delayed payment of salaries, the committee will have to ensure that salaries of this group remain competitive. A senior member of a pilots union, however, said on the condition of anonymity that the pilots could cooperate if there is a sound rationale and the proposed salary cuts are marginal.
Even five years after the merger of the two airlines, there is much heartburn among the staff over the lack of uniformity in pay scales and career progression paths. Pilots of the domestic operations of the erstwhile Indian Airlines had resorted to a 10-day strike shortly after the constitution of the Dharmadhikari committee, demanding parity with the commanders on international flights.
The national auditor, Comptroller and Auditor General, in its report on Air India, observed that the airline did not follow any set procedure for pay revision or for fixing performance linked incentives. "Audit observed that allowances and PLI ranged from 62% to 919% of the Basic Pay against the maximum of 5% as per Department of Public Enterprises guidelines and the company made excess payment of allowances and PLI amounting to Rs 315.78 crore during the years 2007-08 and 2008-09," the CAG said in its report.
The CAG also found Air India Board guilty of approving an increase in various allowances, including PLIs, by up to 50% with effect from January 2005, even though the airline was dependant on loans for working capital.
No comments:
Post a Comment