The committee chaired by Mr Justice (rtd) DM Dharmadhikari to make
recommendations on integration of staff of erstwhile Indian Airlines and
Air India, has submitted its report to the ministry of civil aviation.
There have been requests from some quarters to appoint another committee
to examine the recommendations of the Dharmadhikari panel and make
further recommendations after perusing the learned judge’s own. But
civil aviation minister Mr Ajit Singh remained noncommittal. “Let’s see
the recommendations first,” he said.
Jest Kidding has managed an exclusive peek at the widely-read report. The report contains some radical suggestions. The panel recommends that Indian Commercial Pilots Association representing erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots be merged with the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) to form a new association with an unambiguous mandate ~ the Striking Pilots Association (SPA) ~ whose members will strike work in the second week of every month the moment it becomes clear by the end of the first week that salaries are yet to be credited.
The Dharmadhikari panel has suggested a 10-15 per cent cut in the salaries of pilots and engineers to bring them at par with industry standards. The civil aviation minister said: “We are fine with any kind of revision ~ we are not paying anyway… Did I just say that? Well, please don’t publish it.” The Opposition parties threatened to move a privilege motion against the minister for discussing the government’s pay-not policies outside Parliament.
The panel also noted that Air India was foundering because it did not sound like most Indian institutions. It wanted Air India renamed as Rajiv Gandhi Air India.
The suggestion that surprised many and even made a few happy was that the government should seriously look into the possibility of merging Air India with Kingfisher Airlines. “Both airlines cancel flights with determined regularity. Both are cash strapped. Both can’t pay their staff. The pilots employed by both airlines frequently strike work and both Air India and Kingfisher Airlines are desperately seeking a bailout. It is possible that the merger between Indian Airlines and Air India did not work because the respective pilots could not agree on a uniform striking policy. There will be no such problem if Air India and Kingfisher Airlines join hands. The merged entity can be called Air Fisher or King India ~ the government can take a pick,” reads the report.
Dismissing insinuations that Air India bailouts are proving to be a waste of public money, the report concludes thus: “The crisis has made the Nehru-Gandhi stand on largesse clear. While Mahajaras lost their privy purses in 1971, the same can’t be wished for mascots. Mascots matter more than man. Indira Gandhi knew it, her daughter-in-law knows it better.”
Link: http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=410816&catid=39
Jest Kidding has managed an exclusive peek at the widely-read report. The report contains some radical suggestions. The panel recommends that Indian Commercial Pilots Association representing erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots be merged with the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) to form a new association with an unambiguous mandate ~ the Striking Pilots Association (SPA) ~ whose members will strike work in the second week of every month the moment it becomes clear by the end of the first week that salaries are yet to be credited.
The Dharmadhikari panel has suggested a 10-15 per cent cut in the salaries of pilots and engineers to bring them at par with industry standards. The civil aviation minister said: “We are fine with any kind of revision ~ we are not paying anyway… Did I just say that? Well, please don’t publish it.” The Opposition parties threatened to move a privilege motion against the minister for discussing the government’s pay-not policies outside Parliament.
The panel also noted that Air India was foundering because it did not sound like most Indian institutions. It wanted Air India renamed as Rajiv Gandhi Air India.
The suggestion that surprised many and even made a few happy was that the government should seriously look into the possibility of merging Air India with Kingfisher Airlines. “Both airlines cancel flights with determined regularity. Both are cash strapped. Both can’t pay their staff. The pilots employed by both airlines frequently strike work and both Air India and Kingfisher Airlines are desperately seeking a bailout. It is possible that the merger between Indian Airlines and Air India did not work because the respective pilots could not agree on a uniform striking policy. There will be no such problem if Air India and Kingfisher Airlines join hands. The merged entity can be called Air Fisher or King India ~ the government can take a pick,” reads the report.
Dismissing insinuations that Air India bailouts are proving to be a waste of public money, the report concludes thus: “The crisis has made the Nehru-Gandhi stand on largesse clear. While Mahajaras lost their privy purses in 1971, the same can’t be wished for mascots. Mascots matter more than man. Indira Gandhi knew it, her daughter-in-law knows it better.”
Link: http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=410816&catid=39
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