Kingfisher pilots allege breach of contract, petition DGCA

About a dozen pilots of Kingfisher Airlines have petitioned the directorate general of Civil Aviation seeking a directive to the airline to waive the mandatory six-month notice before quitting saying the company has altered the service contract by changing salary structure.

The pilots said they are seeking the waiver as the airline has already breached their contracts by altering some service conditions including changes in the salary structure.

"We have petitioned the DGCA that Kingfisher should not be allowed to invoke civil aviation requirement (CAR) of 2005, which entails a six-month prior notice for quitting, on the ground that our service contracts have been changed unilaterally," a petitioner said.

When contacted, a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

These pilots have put in their papers and are joining other carriers, but the airline is not relieving them, citing the six-month notice clause, the petitioner said.

A senior DGCA official confirmed that the pilots have approached the regulator.

"Yes, I think, they have... the petition will be heard on Monday," the official said.

The pilots, who have quit Mallya's airline include five from Delhi and two each from Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

In 2005, the Government had made it mandatory for pilots to give a six-month notice before quitting any airline.

"The CAR was put in place to prevent last minute resignations by pilots. However, the airline is misusing it to stop us from joining other airlines," the petitioner alleged.

Kingfisher Airline pilots have been up in arms against the management for quite some time now over alleged changes in their service contracts, especially after the airline slashed their salaries by Rs 80,000 in February this year.

The airline had then justified the salary cut by saying that "it was moving towards a productivity-linked compensation structure".

"They have revised the whole salary package downward unilaterally, which is a clear breach of contract," he said.

"Besides, other benefits have also been lowered like accommodation, transport and even training quality," he said.