Air India makes an offer to pilots post retirement
New Delhi, Jun 24: Tata Group-owned Air India has offered to re-hire pilots post their retirement for a five-year period as the airline looks for stability in operations amid talk of acquiring 300 single-aisle planes, according to an internal communication.
Air India is considering re-hiring these pilots as commanders, it said, according to news agency PTI.
A
senior
official
said
the
airline
has
sought
the
consent
of
retired
pilots
for
such
a
job.
The
communication
has
been
sent
to
the
pilots
who
retired
up
to
three
years
back,
the
official
said.
This comes even as the full-service carrier rolled out a voluntary retirement scheme for its employees, including cabin crew, and at the same time recruiting the fresh blood in the once-state-controlled carrier as well.
Pilots are the most-expensive asset for an airline and get paid the highest compared to other key roles such as cabin crew and aircraft maintenance engineers.
Moreover, shortage of adequately trained pilots in the domestic aviation industry has always been an issue.
"We are pleased to inform you are being considered for post-retirement contract as commander in Air India for a period of 5 years or till you attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier," Air India Deputy General Manager for Personnel, Vikas Gupta, said in an internal mail.
"During the period of post retirement contract, you will be paid the remuneration and flying allowances, as admissible, as per policy of Air India to such appointments," he stated.
Interested pilots have been told to submit their details along with a written consent by June 23, as per the mail.
A
query
sent
to
the
Air
India
spokesperson
in
this
regard
did
not
elicit
a
response.
Tata
Group
took
control
of
Air
India
on
January
27
this
year
after
successfully
winning
the
bid
for
the
airline
in
October
last
year.
The retirement age for pilots in Air India is 58 like all other employees of the airline. Prior to the pandemic, Air India used to re-hire its retired pilots on contract but the practice was discontinued after late March 2020. The contracts of such pilots were also terminated to partially offset the impact of the pandemic.
However, pilots at other private airlines fly until they reach the age of 65 years.
PTI