Air India's aircraft technicians plan strike later this month

Trouble mounts for Air India, as the airline's aircraft technicians are planning a strike later this month. This comes after its pilots raised concerns over being overworked and underpaid.

Aircraft technicians strike

The All India Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Union wrote in a letter dated April 8 to the chief executive office that technicians at AI Engineering Services Ltd. — a state-run maintenance, repair and overhaul firm and an erstwhile Air India unit — will strike on April 23 due to various issues affecting their “well-being” and “professional growth”.

As per Bloomberg, the unrest among aviation workers risks thwarting India’s air travel boom. Pilots and aircraft engineers are crucial to support the country’s rapid fleet expansion after IndiGo, Air India and Akasa placed orders for more than 1,100 aircraft combined.

AI Engineering's biggest client is Air India and its staff are upset over lack of career advancement opportunities because they haven’t been promoted in the past seven years. As per the letter accessed by Bloomberg, the management promised a revised pay structure for technicians who have worked for at least two years with the firm but hasn’t followed through. Meanwhile, the contractual employees who form 75% of the company's workforce feel discriminated because they have to serve longer notice periods and aren’t given as many benefits as the permanent staff.

Bloomberg quoting AI Engineering representative said that the management has initiated discussions with the union to resolve the issue. It has said that the firm has revised salaries of all staff except technicians as a court case is pending and it is planning to revise the salary structure after the court case is withdrawn. In the case, the union had requested equal pay for contractual employees and permanent ones.

The Indian aviation sector has been under pressure as Vistara which is co-owned by Air India has been facing flight disruptions. The Air India pilots have also raised concerns of being underpaid and overworked are “systemic” across Tata’s aviation empire.

In the letter, the technicians have urged the management to resolve issues to avoid potential disruptions from the strike