Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has advised Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) not to get involved in Pilots’ notice period issue as it is between a pilot and his or her airline. FIP has written a letter to DGCA, claiming that the proposal of DGCA of giving one year notice period to leave a company is exploitative. The letter has fueled ongoing war between Pilots Federation and Indian Airline federation (FIA).
Various airlines, including IndiGo and Jet Airways, under the banner of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) have been pitching for increasing the mandatory notice period for pilots to one year because of the time and effort a carrier spends on training its pilots. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in May has proposed to make it mandatory for commanders to serve a one-year notice period and six months in the case of first officers. Currently, pilots are required to serve a six-month notice period. “A notice period is an Administrative and HR function of an Airline and built into the contract signed with the employee. Therefore, it should be left to the agreement between the Pilot and the Airline,” FIP says in its letter.
The Federation of Indian Pilots, which claimed to be a body of pilots cutting across airlines, in its letter to Lalit Gupta, Joint Director General of DGCA, has also said the competitive environment in the aviation sector has often resulted in airlines facing financial distress forcing pilots to explore better avenues but the proposed rules will "bind" the pilot to an airline. According to the pilots, the proposal is “exploitative” as a long notice period will mean airlines can be "vindictive" to those quitting. In their letter, the pilots said that the existing notice period of six months itself is against international standards requiring only a three-month notice.