A-I to pay Rs 78 cr to aircraft maintenance engineers: HC

Mumbai: In a strongly-worded order, a Bombay High Court bench has ruled that Air-India should pay Rs 78 crore to its aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) as part of a settlement of dues relating to productivity-linked incentives.
The airline management has decided to appeal against the order. In an agreement signed in 1996 the AME’s salaries were linked to productivity, which was measured in terms of aircraft available for use every month. According to the agreement, the productivity payment was to rise as the number of aircraft available increased.
However, as Air-India’s fleet increased over the years, the management decided to cap the productivity payments at the level of 26 aircraft. This was contested by the AMEs through their association, the Air India Aircraft Engineers Association (AIAEA) and arguments have followed. The airline’s fleet is now at 33 planes.
The Mumbai High Court had directed the two parties to go for arbitration, which the AMEs won in ‘03. However, the Air-India management refused to make the payment and the issue was directed to the Regional Labour Commissioner(RLC).
The RLC concurred with the arbitration award. Air-India subsequently challenged the RLC in the High Court. On April 5, a High Court bench comprising Justice SU Kamdar ruled that Air-India has to pay Rs 78 crore.
08/04/06 Cukcoo Paul/Economic Times

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