India’s civil aviation regulator has ignored strong protests from airline pilots by imposing a one-year statutory minimum notice period for senior pilots.
When the 12-month notice period was first mooted, pilots unions were outraged and have opposed the plan ever since.
However the directorate general of Civil Aviation nevertheless imposed the ruling which mandates a 12-months’ notice be given for senior pilots wishing to leave for another job, and six months for co-pilots.
Currently it is six months for all cockpit crew.
More protests are likely from outraged unions.
"We seriously object to this new rule. We were opposed to it and we remain opposed to it. We will strongly protest this move along with all pilots from all airlines," National Aviators Guild (NAG) president D Balaraman said.
Balaraman expects some form of industrial action will be taken by pilots as a protest.
Several domestic airlines had called for a longer notice period to protect their investment in training pilots and to help ease a pilot shortage.
Other aviation bodies including the Federation of Indian Pilots and International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations also voiced strong opposition.
The latter wrote to the regulator saying it could seriously impact aviation safety and morale.
