Longer notice period clips wings of Go First pilots

The Federation of Indian Pilots, in a letter to Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, has raised concerns about its members being held to prolonged notice periods by Go First despite not being paid salary for April.

The debt-laden airline had filed for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings on May 2, following which many of its pilots were offered jobs by other airlines.

“The DGCA appears to have turned a blind eye towards airlines that continue to exploit pilots by making them work without pay or reduced pay. This is creating a very stressful environment that affects flight safety,” the letter read.

Go First is refusing to issue no objection certificates (NOC), experience certificates, no dues certificate and attestation of logbooks (in spite of it being a statutory requirement) to pilots who resigned earlier or more recently, the letter said.

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Pilots on the airline's rolls said it has been signing contracts with varying stipulations for notice period. The notice period in older contracts was matched to the DGCA mandate while in the newer ones, it is specified as six months. The new contracts also mention,”Presently, the DGCA CAR on a notice period of 6 months for pilots overrules the period stipulated by the company and if in future, the notice period approved by DGCA is increased, the notice period under this agreement shall stand increased to that extent.”

Pilots’ bodies, including the Society of Welfare of Indian Pilots and the Federation of Indian Pilots, had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court in 2018 challenging the DGCA order that stipulates a one-year notice period for commanders and six months for co-pilots. The court has temporarily set aside the mandate, directing the DGCA not to take any coercive action against pilots during this interim period. However, both pilots and employers are obligated to fulfil their contractual obligations.

The next hearing in this case is scheduled for May 17.

Go First employees that DH spoke to complained that the “contractual obligations” were not being fulfilled. “The airline is enforcing one clause of the contract while disobeying the other clause which is payment of salaries,” a senior captain with Go First told DH.

“...Huge dues, uncertain future and depriving them (pilots) of an opportunity, restricting constitutional freedom and enslaving them,” he added.

“The National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) order to keep the company as a going concern and ensure that no employees are retrenched as it admitted that Go First's voluntary plea is being misinterpreted and the company is using that to its favour,” said a source close to the matter on condition of anonymity. “However, this doesn’t mean you can hold back an employee who willingly wants to leave the company because he/she is not given a salary.”

As far as employees' demand for an NOC is concerned, “The Civil Aviation Requirements of 2017 allow that the notice period may be reduced if the airline provides NOC to a pilot and accepts his resignation earlier than the period stipulated,” explained Nitish Raj, Counsel, Supreme Court, adding that Go First, however, doesn’t want to lose the pilots.

The airline has extended flight cancellation till May 23 citing operational reasons. Earlier, the cancellations were till May 12.

The letter to the minister also highlighted that several airlines have in the past suspended operations overnight leaving their employees in a lurch, including Deccan 360, Kingfisher Airlines, Aryan Cargo Express, Paramount Airways, Pegasus Airlines, and Trujet.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and GoFirst did not respond to DH's queries on the matter.