How a soaring Akasa Air got into a wrangle with its pilots
Akasa Air in August, days before he died, it was considered a gamble, given the highly challenging aviation sector in India. But in less than a year, when it was 11 months old, it overtook SpiceJet in terms of domestic market share in June 2023. While Akasa flew 6.2 lakh passengers last month, SpiceJet was at 5.5 lakh.
Akasa gained the fifth spot, pushing SpiceJet down to the sixth. It was quite an achievement for a new airline.
But just around the time Akasa celebrated its first birth anniversary in August, it landed into trouble with 43 of its pilots quitting, leading to cancellation of flights and consequent loss of market share too.
It sued the pilots in Mumbai as well as dragged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to court in Delhi, seeking the aviation regulator to take coercive action against the pilots who quit without serving the notice period.
On September 27, the courts allowed Akasa Air's suit against the pilots in Mumbai and ruled that the aviation regulator can take necessary action.
How the turbulence began
The pilot trouble at Akasa started with 19 resignations coming in by the end of July.
So far, a total of 43 pilots have quit without serving the mandatory notice period, which was part of the company’s agreement and as per DGCA rules. As per the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) 2017, the captains are required to serve a 12-month notice period, while the first officers must serve a six-month notice.
Akasa Air requested intervention from the aviation regulator and the Ministry of Civil Aviation in August.
