Air India to Akasa: Staff has right to get hired by competition

NEW DELHI: Amid concerns over alleged poaching of pilots, Air India told Akasa Air that petitioning a competitor to collude in restricting the rights of staff to change an employer could potentially violate the competition law.

Air India CEO-MD Campbell Wilson wrote a letter to Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube against the backdrop of Akasa Air raising concerns about Air India Express hiring pilots from the airline.

The letter, dated September 21, followed a letter by Dube to Tata Sons on September 11. Dube and Wilson had also spoken over a call. Against this backdrop, Wilson, in a two-page letter, said, about the allegation Air India Express was contravening the CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement), he had explained that the CAR in question was before the courts and that the DGCA had expressed the view that the relevant provision was not currently enforceable as a result of orders in those proceedings. The reference was to the CAR on the notice period requirement for pilots while leaving an airline.

Akasa Air had also initiated legal action against some of its pilots who left the airline and reportedly joined Air India Express. “As such, I noted that the issue of whether Akasa employees are abiding by their contract with Akasa was a matter between Akasa and its employees,” Wilson said. He also pointed out that Akasa Air had previously engaged in the same actions by taking pilots from Air India Express, Vistara and at least two other local airlines notwithstanding the CAR now being cited.