Jet Airways will no longer have expatriate pilots on its flights as the domestic carrier is said to be phasing them out. The decision comes after an expat pilot was accused of hurling racial abuses and assaulting a woman on a Chandigarh-Mumbai flight in April.
Also read: Is it time for pilots to move on to greener pastures?
Not just that, the pilot is also said to have abused a physically challenged man on the flight. The airline will send about 25 of its expat pilots back by mid-September and more will be sent back later, reported the Times of India.
While the National Aviators' Guild, the union of Jet Airways' Indian pilots, had told its members not to fly with expat pilots, they withdrew the move after the carrier promised action against the accused. Jet had then derostered the accused pilot.
Jet has about 100 expat pilots and all of them will gradually be sent back. "Our chairman wants career progression for Indian pilots," TOI quoted a senior official as saying.
The racial abuse incident came to light after cricketer Harbhajan Singh tweeted about it. Singh later clarified that he wasn't on the Chandigarh-Mumbai flight but had heard about it from an acquaintance. Calling the act "disgraceful," the cricketer told Press Trust of India: "We are proud Indians, not 'bloody Indians'... I don't need apology, I want this captain to be out of India so no one dare to (sic) call us bloody Indians."
Calling the act "disgraceful," the cricketer told Press Trust of India: "We are proud Indians, not 'bloody Indians'... I don't need apology, I want this captain to be out of India so no one dare to (sic) call us bloody Indians."
Strict action must b taken &such things should not be allowed or tolerated in r country.. #proudtobeindian let's get together and sort this
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 26, 2017
So called this Bernd Hoesslin a pilot with @jetairways called my fellow indian(u bloody indian get out of my flight)while he is earning here
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 26, 2017
Not only was he racist but physically assaulted a lady and abused a physically challenged man..absolutely disgraceful &shame on @jetairways
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 26, 2017
Meanwhile, Jet Airways has of late been hogging the limelight. Just a few days ago, the full-service carrier had asked its junior pilots, who joined the brand in 2016, to take a 30 percent pay cut or leave.
In a bid to trim costs, Jet Airways is said to have made a few changes to the pilots' contracts and it will now be mandatory for them to take 10 days of leave in a month apart from their weekly offs, which in turn will result in a 30 percent reduction in their salaries. The pilots have been given until the end of the month to take a decision.
Jet Airways' decision is said to have affected about 320 junior pilots. The cost cutting move comes in light of a generally slow business as well as the headwinds that the brand is facing in the international market due to the economic slowdown in the Gulf region.
While this decision itself ruffled quite a few feathers, the carrier then went on to ask its pilots to furnish surety bonds of up to Rs 1 crore. This is said to be the airline's way of making sure that the pilots stay with the company for at least five to seven years.
The NAG then said that the information has been passed on to the junior pilots. "They (junior pilots) have to give a seven year bond of Rs 1 crore, non-depreciating," the daily quoted a source as saying.
However, Jet Airways' spokesperson told the PTI that the carrier has not asked for any kind of bond. "No new bonds (have been) asked for. It is just a pattern that has been introduced," the Jet Airways spokesperson said.
