New Delhi: National carrier Air India Ltd has told the Delhi High Court that it has terminated the services of over 40 pilots who tendered resignations but later withdrew the same, as substitutes for them were engaged.
The submission has been made in response to several pleas moved by pilots seeking directions to the airline to accept the withdrawal of their respective resignations.
The pilots in their pleas said they had initially tendered their resignations over delay in payment of salaries and allowances, but had later withdrawn the same.
Air India, in its reply, has said that it was already “reeling under a debt of approximately Rs 30,000 crore” and in addition to that it has outstanding liabilities to various banks, lessors, vendors and service providers to the tune of around Rs 11,000 crore.
Therefore, the delay in payment of salaries and allowances of pilots was not done with any malafide intention but was due to the airline”s “precarious financial condition”, it has said in an affidavit filed in the high court.
The airline further said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic its commercial functioning was greatly reduced and almost its entire fleet was grounded and since the substitute pilots were already engaged, it would have an excess of pilots if those who had resigned are also kept on board.
It has said that under the prevailing “exceptional circumstances”, acceptance of the withdrawal of resignation “would be against the public interest”.
With regard to the pilots contention that they continued to work during the notice period, the airline has said that under the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) the pilots are obligated to perform their functions during the pendency of notice period.
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
News media is in a crisis & only you can fix it
You are reading this because you value good, intelligent and objective journalism. We thank you for your time and your trust.
You also know that the news media is facing an unprecedented crisis. It is likely that you are also hearing of the brutal layoffs and pay-cuts hitting the industry. There are many reasons why the media’s economics is broken. But a big one is that good people are not yet paying enough for good journalism.
We have a newsroom filled with talented young reporters. We also have the country’s most robust editing and fact-checking team, finest news photographers and video professionals. We are building India’s most ambitious and energetic news platform. And we aren’t even three yet.
At ThePrint, we invest in quality journalists. We pay them fairly and on time even in this difficult period. As you may have noticed, we do not flinch from spending whatever it takes to make sure our reporters reach where the story is. Our stellar coronavirus coverage is a good example. You can check some of it here.
This comes with a sizable cost. For us to continue bringing quality journalism, we need readers like you to pay for it. Because the advertising market is broken too.
If you think we deserve your support, do join us in this endeavour to strengthen fair, free, courageous, and questioning journalism, please click on the link below. Your support will define our journalism, and ThePrint’s future. It will take just a few seconds of your time.