Jet’s Single Brand Agenda Gives Sleepless Nights To Pilots

Naresh Goyal's Jet Airways plans to merge its Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Jetlite with its flagship carrier. According to company sources, the management will soon induct pilots from Jetlite to the parent company Jet Airways.

"Nearly 230 pilots will be shifted from Jetlite to Jet Airways. This is a point of concern for us because it may lead to drastic changes in our salary structures as well as our seniority," said a senior pilot who requested anonymity.

He further revealed, "Cramer Ball, CEO of Jet Airways, will be meeting with the company pilots on 9 September to discuss the future plans of the airline with us. Basically, they want to explain their decision to ensure a smoother transition".

DGCA, SpiceJet turned blind eye to repeated lapses by senior pilot

In what appears to be a clear violation of flight safety norms, both the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and low cost carrier SpiceJet disregarded official reports of lapses by the latter's pilot on two occasions. Even more shocking is the fact that the pilot in question, Capt Rahul Malhotra, was promoted twice after the first incident involving a hard landing at Jammu airport.

In the Jammu incident on October 4, 2013, Malhotra was responsible for a hard landing of the Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft that he was piloting. However, in the pre-flight check before departing for the next destination, Malhotra did not report the incident while completing the tech logsheet, which he got through with in a mere 10 minutes.

JetLite pilots to lose seniority on Jet merger

In an unprecedented move in India’s aviation sector, pilots of JetLite, the no-frills carrier owned by Jet Airways (which will soon cease to exist) have been told that their previous flying experience will not hold any value as and when they are absorbed into the parent airline.
The move has created a lot of anxiety and uncertainty among JetLite pilots regarding their future. Jet Airways’ chief executive-designate Cramer Ball is scheduled to meet with JetLite’s 230 pilots on September 9 and shed further light on the company’s future plans.
Some pilots of the low cost-airline that Jet acquired from the Sahara Group in 2007 told FE on condition of anonymity that they may quit following the meeting, if the management’s explanation doesn’t satisfy them.

40 senior pilots quit IndiGo in one year

Mumbai: Low-cost carrier IndiGo, whose market share dropped by a per cent in July to 30.7, has also lost as many as 40 commanders or senior pilots mainly to Gulf carriers in the last one year.

While most of these commanders quit the airline for better prospects, some of them also parted ways due to the work culture, sources in the Gurgaon-based airline told PTI.

"Around 40 commanders have parted ways with the airline over the past one year as most of them got lucrative offers from Gulf carriers," a source said.
Text messages sent to IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh and airline's PR agency for a comment on the issue did not yield any response.

Struggling SpiceJet Hit By Pilot Exodus

New Delhi:  Loss-making budget carrier SpiceJet, whose auditors have raised red-flags over the company's 'going concern' status, is now seeing an exodus of pilots. Over 60 pilots have quit and are serving the mandatory six-month notice period, sources told HT.

A majority of those who have quit are likely to join a rival low-cost carrier, which unlike SpiceJet, has an-Airbus fleet, the sources added.

"Pilots are leaving in droves. There is too much uncertainty in the airline," said an airline executive, who did not wish to be identified.

Jet Airways seeks month's time to clear Rs 100 crore worth of salary arrears of pilots

Mumbai: Jet Airways today sought a month's time to clear about Rs 100 crore worth of salary arrears of its pilots, who have been expressing their ire against the delay in making the payment, airline sources said.
The management's plea came during an almost six-hour meeting with representatives of pilots at the airline's headquarters here this afternoon, the sources said.
The meeting was attended by chief executive-designate Cramer Ball and other officials while the pilots' representatives came under the banner of National Aviators Guild ( NAG) which acts as an interface between the pilots and the management.

Breather for drunk pilots as DGCA dilutes norms

New Delhi: India's aviation safety ranking may have been recently downgraded but that hasn't stopped the authorities from relaxing norms for drunk flying and endangering passenger safety. A pilot will now lose his or her flying licence only when caught flying in an inebriated state for the third time. Earlier, this fate would befall them on the second instance itself.

The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) diluted the punishment for flight crew reporting to work high last week when it issued a new civil aviation requirement (CAR) on alcohol consumption. While the action against crew found high for the first time on work remains licence suspension for three months, the subsequent offences have been watered down.

Asiana Airlines: Pilot was getting on-the-job training

The pilot at the controls of an Asiana plane that crashed was getting on-the-job training, the carrier's CEO revealed Monday.