“I have leapt off a cliff. I can either grow wings or crash.” This is how a younger trainee pilot describes his predicament after spending 5 years and ₹1.07 crore on studying how you can fly, together with a steep employment bond of ₹50 lakh which locks him in for 5 years with the nation’s greatest airline, IndiGo.
In his early 20s, Aravinth Nair* has already witnessed the cyclical and unstable nature of the aviation trade in his fledgling profession. First, there was the closure of Jet Airways in 2019 simply when he was making ready to embark on his flight coaching programme after ending highschool. That was adopted by COVID-19 the following 12 months when his coaching was briefly suspended, even because the spectre of mounting curiosity on the mortgage incurred to pay his flying college charge loomed massive. Then got here the Go First closure in May 2023 that flooded the market with jobless however skilled pilots and delayed his induction on the airline, ensuing in an prolonged wait earlier than he may begin repaying his mortgage. These are just a few of the stressors that, unknown to most, disguise behind the sheen of a “fat” pay cheque.
Costly coaching, unlawful bonds
Add to this, the unpredictable coaching timelines that may stretch for as much as 4 years earlier than one may even land an airline job, and the loans incurred to pay exorbitant flight coaching charges ranging between ₹80 lakh and ₹1.2 crore that may take 10 to 14 years to repay. Pilots additionally discover themselves tethered by “illegal” employment bonds of ₹20 lakh for Vistara or ₹50 lakh for IndiGo in the shape of undated cheques, locking them in with the corporate for a interval of two to 5 years at a fastened wage decrease than prevalent market requirements. Air India too requires new joinees to furnish a financial institution assure of ₹25 lakh for 5 years, for which pilots usually pledge their fastened deposits or incur loans. These bonds or financial institution ensures are in addition to prices borne by pilots for induction coaching of six to 9 months at airways; at Air India, this prices ₹14 lakh, whereas Vistara expenses ₹12 lakh.
There can also be the bureaucratic purple tape that may imply three months to clear medical assessments and at the very least a two-month wait simply to be issued a licence by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Such elements have a cascading affect on a pilot’s profession as these delays may trigger different permits to lapse even earlier than one has secured a job.
‘Caught in a chokehold’
The a number of challenges concerned in becoming a pilot in India as we speak can also be on the coronary heart of the present unrest at Vistara. The airline’s junior pilots have strongly objected to a revised wage construction introduced in mid-February which presents them a assured flying allowance for 40 hours as an alternative of the present 70 hours, ensuing in a pay lower of 24% to 40% on a wage of ₹3.4 lakh per 30 days. However, many discover themselves, as one Vistara First Officer described, “caught in a chokehold” and unable to depart.
“Nothing went off as I had expected. Because there is unpredictability over jobs, I opted for IndiGo’s cadet training programme that cost me ₹1.07 crore five years ago but guaranteed a job at the airline. I paid a premium for a well-known brand and a complete end-to-end package that I hoped would also take care of complex and lengthy regulatory requirements,” recounts Mr. Nair, who’s now a First Officer at IndiGo. But that’s not what occurred, and the coaching itself took 4 years to finish as an alternative of two.
‘Do-or-die situation’
Once he completed his coaching and joined IndiGo, the induction coaching for freshers like him was additionally delayed by 4 to 5 months because the airline employed 200 skilled pilots from Go First after the latter shut operations.
The delay in induction meant that Mr. Nair would solely obtain 40% of his wage of ₹2.2 lakh, or ₹90,000 per 30 days, till he was launched to fly for the airline, ensuing in a longer wait to have the ability to repay his mortgage.
“The financial burden is so huge that it is a do-or-die situation for me. I am in a position where I am forced to succeed,” says Mr. Nair.
Several First Officers at Vistara advised The Hindu that whereas the brand new wage phrases weren’t acceptable, they’d no alternative however to comply with them as a result of of an ultimatum from the airline’s human sources division that not doing so would end result in their ouster from the merged Air India and affect their upgrades.
‘Illegal pay cut’
“The new pay structure announced at Vistara entailing a pay cut for First Officers is illegal because it is a fundamental principle in labour laws that contractual terms can’t be altered to the detriment of an employee after he or she has joined the company. The conditions can be made more favourable though,” mentioned aviation lawyer Yeshwanth Shenoy.
The Hindu despatched particular queries to Air India, Vistara and IndiGo however all of them declined to remark.
“We are caught in a chokehold because aviation is a blackhole of money,” mentioned a Vistara First Officer who has determined to remain on the airline as he’s anticipating an improve to Senior First Officer, which is able to imply a wage bump of practically ₹1 lakh.
“Firstly, there aren’t many airlines left in the country and IndiGo is the only viable alternative. At some airlines like Air India, even appearing for a job interview requires spending upto ₹1 lakh for a simulator examination. And many First Officers can’t even go overseas as foreign airlines need an Airline Transport Pilot Licence which requires 2,000 hours of flying, which pilots don’t have so early in their career,” he defined.
Junior pilots ‘exploited’
Pilots throughout the trade are enraged over how Vistara’s new pay construction intentionally “exploits” junior pilots who’re unable to reject the brand new contract as a result of of their weak place. The senior pilots, alternatively, have obtained beneficial phrases the place they are going to earn a sum equal of 70 hours of flying below the previous regime by flying solely 50 hours to 60 hours below the brand new pay regime.
Quitting an airline in India can also be not straightforward. First Officers should serve a discover interval of six months, whereas international airways like Etihad will solely wait for 3 months for a pilot to affix. Then there are employment bonds that tie up pilots for as much as 5 years, and are “illegal”, based on Mr. Shenoy.
“These bonds violate Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 which lays down that any agreement by which any one is restrained from exercising a lawful profession, trade or business of any kind is void. As these are civil matters or disputes between a private person and an enterprise only an aggrieved pilot can file a legal case but which pilot will challenge his airline and bell the cat,“ he asks.
Training fees
Even the cost incurred by pilots for their induction training at an airline is unlawful, explains Mr. Shenoy. “Any expenditure incurred on training that is necessary to fulfil the obligations of employment have to be borne by the employer. Pilots can’t be made to pay for this,” he mentioned. Pilots additionally marvel why they should pay tens of millions for airline coaching, on condition that that is carried out on passenger flights that already earn income for airways. Airline sources mentioned on the situation of anonymity that the charge for induction coaching is levied as a result of of the associated fee to the corporate of eradicating a pilot from flying duties to conduct simulator coaching in addition to to pay for utilizing simulators.
Sometimes, a dream turns into a hen with a damaged wing that may’t fly. After 10 years of coaching, Saurabh Saxena* misplaced the ₹40 lakh he paid as an airline coaching charge to Go First when it collapsed final May. With his household having spent ₹1 crore in all, there was no extra monetary urge for food to nurture the dream and he needed to be part of the household enterprise. “I am getting married on April 23 and I know that I am not an alluring prospective husband,” he mentioned.
