Merger pains: A-I, Vistara in churn over pilots' career progression plan

Vistara pilots claim A-I colleagues leapfrogging them in promotion

The career progression plan at Air India (A-I) and Vistara, the two airlines set to merge next month, is causing a shake-up among its pilots. Air India has sent nearly one-fifth of its 2,144 pilots for “conversion” to wide-body aircraft or “upgrade” from first officer to captain, while also slashing its hiring target by over 100 pilots this year.

Meanwhile, tensions are simmering at Vistara, where some pilots are fuming over Air India colleagues leapfrogging them in these promotions, fuelling resentment within the ranks.
 

“(Our) expansion requirements are planned to be met through in-house group transfers as per the career progression path with minimal external hiring,” Air India stated in one of its internal documents, which have been reviewed by Business Standard.

“We have already processed 98 fleet upgrades (the aforementioned pilot ‘conversions’) and 51 command upgrades in the current financial year, reducing hiring targets by 100 plus pilots,” Air India stated while explaining the impact of the internal “career progression policy”.

 

Pilots undergoing “conversion” are transitioning to new aircraft types, while those in “upgrade” are advancing to higher roles, such as from captain to trainer. Both processes involve specialised training, including ground school and supervised flights. Air India did not respond to the queries sent by Business Standard on Sunday.
 

Vistara did not respond to the newspaper’s request for a statement sent on Wednesday.
 

Air India has 1,029 “line-released” pilots for its 73 narrow-body aircraft, with approximately 17 per cent of them undergoing conversion or upgrade. “Line-released” refers to pilots who have completed their training and have been certified to fly specific aircraft. For its 53 wide-body aircraft, the airline has 1,115 “line-released” pilots, of whom around 21.1 per cent are also being converted or upgraded, Air India stated in its documents.
 

The fresh recruits will be provided by the Air India Aviation Academy, which has started ground classes in Gurugram. Meanwhile, a group of Vistara pilots has written to Chief Executive Officer Vinod Kannan, alleging that Air India pilots are being converted and upgraded ahead of them. In their letter, the Vistara pilots said this practice violated the career progression framework, prepared by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) several months ago, for pilots of both the airlines. In his reply on Tuesday evening, Kannan stated: “On alleged transgression of the Career Progression List (CPL), the position has always been that the respective AOCs (Air Operator Certificates) will manage their trainer progressions as per operational requirements. This was clearly outlined by BCG in their presentation last year and has been reiterated on multiple occasions." 
 

“At Vistara, we had appointed LTCs (Line Training Captains) as required for our own operations. The position is always that post-merger, the movement to wide body or training positions will follow the CPL and we very much intend to keep to this. Now that the CPL is public and the merger is upon us, I am sure that you will see this in action soon,” Kannan added. Air India officials stated both airlines planned to convert and upgrade pilots based on the speed of aircraft induction and the eligibility criteria outlined on the Career Progression List (CPL). They noted the airline continued to hire “laterally” and recently conducted roadshows in cities like Mumbai and Delhi to facilitate this.
 

“Once the merger is finalised, the CPL seniority list will be actively followed,” an Air India official said.
 

Vistara is set to merge into full-service carrier Air India by November 11. From November 12, Air India and Vistara pilots will be considered a single group of pilots for preparing the roster.
 

On October 1, AIX Connect was integrated into Air India Express, forming a single low-cost airline subsidiary of Air India.