Akasa Air moves court against 43 pilots for quitting without notice
Akasa Air has moved court against 43 pilots claiming that they have quit the airline without completing a notice period of six months. The airline in a petition filed with Bombay High Court has sought that pilots be barred joining any airline till the time they complete the mandatory notice period, which was part of employment agreement.
In its petition, the airline also said that due to sudden resignation of the pilots, it was forced to cancel multiple flights, causing financial and reputational loss to the airline and has sought monetary compensation of Rs 21 crore, which includes cost of training one pilot, according to a petition reviewed by ET.
The airline which started business last year and was rapidly expanding lost 1% market share due to cancellation of over 632 flights in August.
“We have sought legal remedy only against a small set of pilots who abandoned their duties and left without serving their mandatory contractual notice period.
This is illegal in law but also an unethical and selfish act that disrupted flights in August forcing last minute cancellations that stranded thousands of customers causing significant inconvenience to the travelling public,” an Akasa spokesperson said.
Pilots who have quit the airline said that the airline violated contractual agreement by altering salary structure.
