Senior first officers must join AI Express to become commanders

Air India pilots who are eligible and want to become commanders on narrow- and wide-body planes will be compulsorily required to shift to Air India Express, with the Tata Group-owned loss-making airline putting in place a new framework based on a common seniority pool, according to sources.

Under the framework, senior First Officers (FOs)shifting to Air India Express for narrow-body Boeing 737 planes will be given a one-time bonus of Rs 10 lakh and the existing commanders of these aircraft at Air India Express will be paid Rs 21 lakh over three years, the sources said.

Upon getting the commandership, the sources said such pilots will be required to be at the operating base chosen by Air India Express for at least two years, which can be extended by up to six months. Once that period is complete, they would be allowed to choose their operating base depending on eligibility.

There was no official comment from Air India on the new framework.

Two senior pilots, who are with Air India Group, told PTI that the new framework has been mooted amid intense competition among airlines for hiring senior pilots, attrition and also lesser flying hours at present.

Air India has more than 3,500 pilots while Air India Express has over 2,000 pilots. Together, they have a fleet of around 300 aircraft. Air India does not have any Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet.

Details about the number of senior first officers, as well as the count of narrow-body and wide-body pilots at Air India, could not be immediately ascertained.

While Air India is pushing the framework as part of providing new career pathways and long-term growth opportunities for the senior pilots, as the Air India Group is set to get more narrow-body planes in the near term and wide-body aircraft will also increase in the coming years, the sources also said a section of pilots have some reservations about the present plan.

The move also comes at a time when there is intense competition among airlines to hire pilots as they expand their fleets. Two pilots said IndiGo is hiring pilots and also offering the option to choose their operating base.

One of the sources said the decision to encourage senior first officers to join Air India Express is to boost the pool of commanders for Boeing 737 planes as a significant number of such aircraft are to join the fleet next year.

The decision to shift senior first officers to Air India Express, which only operates narrow-body Boeing 737 and A320 family planes, was conveyed to the pilots at a town hall by Air India’s Head of Operations Manish Uppal on Friday.

One of the pilots quoted earlier said the senior first officers are being offered letters under Air India Express letterhead regarding their shifting to the airline from Air India.

They are also allegedly being forced to accept the letters, and that in a way amounts to “forced resignation” since the pilots concerned would no longer be under the Air India payroll, the pilot claimed.

Since a number of its A320 commander pilots have quit and moved to IndiGo, which is hiring them with up to a Rs 20 lakh bond amount, Air India has offered a Rs 21 lakh bonus that will be paid over a three-year period, the pilot said.

Meanwhile, the sources said the common seniority pool for the pilots from Air India and Air India Express will be maintained, and from now on, Air India Express will be the primary pathway for pilots seeking command upgrades.

After the initial training period, a Commercial Pilot License (CPL) holder has to clear certain papers in two to three years before becoming a first officer. Then, after 7-8 years on average, the first officer becomes a senior first officer and subsequently a commander.

A commander, after serving in that role for at least 4-5 years, is promoted to senior commander.