THE overall situation of commercial aviation globally is bleak. IATA’s revised forecast predicts airlines losses totalling US$ 11 billion, which is in fact US$ 2 billion more than its earlier estimate of US$ 9 billion. The losses are due to rising fuel prices and exceptionally week yields. The impact to the airline industry on the whole will be more than that of post 9/11.
Commercial aviation in India is not spared from this wrath. Raising costs, especially high fuel price have made airline managements to sit up and take stock of the ground realities.
One may recall that the private sector airlines in India staged a one-day token strike under the umbrella of Federation of Indian Airlines (FAI) to protest against the raising cost of running an airline. The representatives met the civil aviation minister with their owes and were given a patient hearing.
However, with continuing cost escalations, managements at both public and private sector airlines are forced to take hard hitting decisions of reducing costs, including pay cuts, reduction in incentives, etc.
Obviously such actions of the managements produced counter actions from the workforces.
Jet Airways pilots took the lead. A major section of the pilots of the airline formed a union in September, perhaps a precursor to protecting their pay packages as the management of Jet Airways had already decided to cut pays of the management members and the pilots between 30 and 50 per cent.
The airline management in retaliation sacked a couple of office bearers and a four-day strike by the pilots brought the airline operations to a standstill.
Then it was the turn of Air India pilots. Resenting the management’s decision on cost-cutting measures relating to 50 per cent cut on their Productivity Linked Incentives, they went on a four-day strike which ended on September 30.
All Indian carriers, irrespective of private sector or public sector, are facing severe cash crunch and some of them are finding it difficult to woo financial institutions for additional funding to tie over the present situation. The situation in the Indian carriers are so stressed that some of them are even unable to pay salaries regularly leave alone incentives.
The resentment amongst employees of the airlines is on the rise and it is felt that in due course of this year, we will witness many agitations from various sections of the employees.
