Kingfisher pilots allege breach of contract, petition DGCA

About a dozen pilots of Kingfisher Airlines have petitioned the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to direct the airline to waive the mandatory six months notice period (for leaving the company) on their service contract.
The pilots said they are seeking the waiver as the airline has already breached their contracts by altering some service conditions including changes in the salary structure.
“We have petitioned the DGCA that Kingfisher should not be allowed to invoke civil aviation requirement (CAR) of 2005, which entails a 6-month prior notice for quitting, on the ground that our service contracts have been changed unilaterally,” a petitioner told PTI in Mumbai.
These pilots have put in their papers and are joining other carriers, but the airline is not relieving them, citing the 6-month notice clause, the petitioner said.
A senior DGCA official confirmed that the pilots have approached the regulator.
The pilots who have quit Mallya’s airline include five from Delhi and two each from Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
19/04/09 Press Trust Of India/Hindustan Times