NEW DELHI: The government has given the nod to 13 months old Akasa to start international flights what it will do next winter. For now, however, India’s youngest airline is fighting on two fronts: an exodus of 43 pilots that has forced it to cancel hundreds of flights in the past two to three months. Akasa sued these pilots and its lawyer said in a court on Tuesday that the airline was in a “state of crisis” and might “close down” as a result of their departure without observing the mandatory six- and 12-month notice periods for co-pilots was taken. captains, respectively. A day later, the airline’s management attempted to allay the concerns this statement caused, both among employees and passengers.
“We are on track to announce a triple-digit aircraft order by the end of this year to meet growing travel demand,” the airline said in a statement. Akasa co-founder and CEO Vinay Dube told employees on Wednesday that it had “enough pilots at various stages of their training to fly more than 30 aircraft,” while describing the exodus as “short-term restrictions” that had led to “ flying less and giving up market share in the short term to offer customers a more reliable network.” He assured employees that Akasa “never had more confidence” in the future. Dube said the airline had enough money.
Meanwhile, speaking about its upcoming international operations, the airline said: “The Ministry of Aviation has appointed (us) an international scheduled airline. This will allow us to fly internationally, bringing us one step closer to our dream of launching international operations before the end of this year. We are now working with all relevant authorities on our request for traffic rights and will soon be able to announce the international destination we will be flying to. We are targeting destinations within 737 MAX range from India in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.”
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has so far not intervened in cases where pilots left airlines, as there have been several cases where pilots were forced to do so because their employer airlines (this does not include Akasa) did not pay a substantial part of their salary on time for months. Akasa has sought court guidance from the DGCA to implement the same.
“The airlines who have no money and cannot pay on time have also approached DGCA to stop the exodus of their crew. Fortunately, the supervisor did not intervene in those cases, because the breach of contract had occurred on the employer’s side. This is an employer-employee question where issues such as notice periods should not be legally prescribed in an ideal market,” say pilots.
“We are on track to announce a triple-digit aircraft order by the end of this year to meet growing travel demand,” the airline said in a statement. Akasa co-founder and CEO Vinay Dube told employees on Wednesday that it had “enough pilots at various stages of their training to fly more than 30 aircraft,” while describing the exodus as “short-term restrictions” that had led to “ flying less and giving up market share in the short term to offer customers a more reliable network.” He assured employees that Akasa “never had more confidence” in the future. Dube said the airline had enough money.
Meanwhile, speaking about its upcoming international operations, the airline said: “The Ministry of Aviation has appointed (us) an international scheduled airline. This will allow us to fly internationally, bringing us one step closer to our dream of launching international operations before the end of this year. We are now working with all relevant authorities on our request for traffic rights and will soon be able to announce the international destination we will be flying to. We are targeting destinations within 737 MAX range from India in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.”
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has so far not intervened in cases where pilots left airlines, as there have been several cases where pilots were forced to do so because their employer airlines (this does not include Akasa) did not pay a substantial part of their salary on time for months. Akasa has sought court guidance from the DGCA to implement the same.
“The airlines who have no money and cannot pay on time have also approached DGCA to stop the exodus of their crew. Fortunately, the supervisor did not intervene in those cases, because the breach of contract had occurred on the employer’s side. This is an employer-employee question where issues such as notice periods should not be legally prescribed in an ideal market,” say pilots.
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