Union of Jet Airways Asks Members Not to Fly With Expat Pilots

Bengaluru: National Aviators Guild (NAG), union of Jet Airways pilots, on Saturday asked its members not to fly with expat (foreign) pilots from May 1, 2017.

In a mail to the airline management, NAG expressed its unhappiness over the alleged misbehaviour of an expat with a senior examiner, and also the instances of expats being rude to passengers.

The directive said, “The safety of our passengers and pilots is of prime importance and this kind of issues cannot be tolerated at all.”

Jet has around 100 expats working currently and around 1500 Indian pilots of which 850 are commanders.

The union also stressed that the expats are a huge drain on the company and the nation finances their extravagant salaries, and the added cost of putting them up in five-star hotels. India has no dearth of talent when it comes to aviation. There are enough and many CPL holders sitting idle.

“We trust the management will understand the angst of our members in this matter and join us in ensuring that we can take pride in being a nationally conscious company.

Keeping the safety of our passengers and members in mind, "The NAG committee, hereby, issues a directive to all trainers not to conduct training/checking any expats effective 16th April 2017, and line pilots not to fly with expats from May 1, 2017, onwards,” National Aviators Guild mail said.

Meanwhile, the airline issued a statement: "Jet Airways is an equal opportunities employer. It employs human capital which is diverse in race, gender, caste, creed or religion.

We, today, employ a multi-cultural workforce of over 15000 people across the globe and are regarded as an employer of choice in the aviation sector.

As an Indian airline operating internationally, Jet Airways has always focused on recruiting the brightest talent and today, has best-in-class cockpit crew from around the world, including a limited (marginal) percentage of expatriate pilots. As India’s Best Airline, Jet Airways is committed to offering equal opportunities to all pilots and follows a structured plan for their recruitment based on business outlook.

Jet Airways has won the “Best Indian Airline” award in TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Award 2017."