Bangalore: Following reports of the co-pilot of the ill-fated Germanwings plane having sought psychiatric help six years ago, the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) has written to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief M Sathiyavathi claiming Air India pilots are not in the best mental state, thanks to more than two years of not getting their full salaries.
In the seven-point letter, ICPA has questioned DGCA's reluctance to intervene on behalf of Air India pilots who have not received their full salary and allowances for the last 32 months, but did so for SpiceJet and Kingfisher pilots when they found themselves in a similar situation.
Praveen Keerthi, general secretary, ICPA said, "How is it that not receiving salaries is a matter of flight safety for Kingfisher and SpiceJet employees but not for Air Indians? It is a well-documented that the human element is one of the most susceptible parts of the safety chain in air operations."
A union member, who declined to be named, added, "We had to write this letter as our pilots are under tremendous stress, having to fly A-320 aircraft aged 26 years. Snags reported by pilots are repeatedly being put in deferred maintenance citing lack of spares as the reason. DGCA should not permit AI to operate these lethal snag-prone classic aircraft in view of passenger safety. The German crash has only upset the pilot community further."
31/03/15 Aditya Anand/Bangalore Mirror
In the seven-point letter, ICPA has questioned DGCA's reluctance to intervene on behalf of Air India pilots who have not received their full salary and allowances for the last 32 months, but did so for SpiceJet and Kingfisher pilots when they found themselves in a similar situation.
Praveen Keerthi, general secretary, ICPA said, "How is it that not receiving salaries is a matter of flight safety for Kingfisher and SpiceJet employees but not for Air Indians? It is a well-documented that the human element is one of the most susceptible parts of the safety chain in air operations."
A union member, who declined to be named, added, "We had to write this letter as our pilots are under tremendous stress, having to fly A-320 aircraft aged 26 years. Snags reported by pilots are repeatedly being put in deferred maintenance citing lack of spares as the reason. DGCA should not permit AI to operate these lethal snag-prone classic aircraft in view of passenger safety. The German crash has only upset the pilot community further."
31/03/15 Aditya Anand/Bangalore Mirror
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