PLI issue set to spark showdown at Air India

Air India pilots and engineers are heading for a showdown with the government. They are mulling over to legally challenge the decision to discontinue the productivity linked incentives (PLI) payment system. On Thursday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation notified that the provision of PLI would be done away with from July, in accordance with the recommendations of the Justice Dharmadhikari Committee report.

According to the report, while a part of the PLI will be merged with the salary, certain components will be given as profit or productivity related pay (PRP) only after the airline turns profitable. With this, it is feared that while pilots and engineers will lose up to 70 per cent and 40 per cent of their monthly income, respectively, the other grade employees will bear some impact.

Speaking to

The Hindu , pilots and engineers said any unilateral decision to cut their wages was unacceptable and they would challenge the move in the court of law, if needed. The PLI was introduced through an agreement between the employees and the management and was also ratified by a court. This agreement could be nullified only by another agreement, not by a mere order based on some recommendations, said an engineer asking not to be identified.

“We understand the challenge before us. But it can’t be done unilaterally. We are ready to discuss and sort out the issue rather than accepting some order,” said another engineer.

The PLI was introduced in 1996 to prevent poaching of pilots and engineers. The management and the associations had entered into memorandum of settlements (MoS) for PLI payment.

“Any discontinuance of PLI is a violation of court order. Without speaking to the affected parties who are they (the government and the management) to implement the report? Any arbitrary decision is not acceptable,” said a pilot on condition of anonymity. “With pay cuts, people will leave. It may also lead to industrial unrest,” said another.