1Associate Professor, Amity Business School, Amity University, Bengaluru
2Assistant Professor, Ramaiah College of Law, Bengaluru
The CEOs of Air India and Akasa Air exchanged their words on poaching of the pilots6. Akasa Air accused Air India for poaching their company pilots6. Dube said “40 pilots of the company left abruptly without completing the notice period”. Due to the sudden exit, Akasa had to call off their operations in July and August 2023 and the market share of the company was affected badly41. Most of these pilots have joined Air India15. Then, Akasa accused Air India and a legal notice was sent to 19 pilots, who had joined Air India without completing the mandatory notice period39 and claimed 22 crores as compensation from each . Meanwhile, Akasa requested the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to intervene in the matter18. In September, Akasa sued the aviation watchdog for not supporting the same8. In response, a higher official from DGCA said that ight cancellations due to pilot’ shortages were the respective airline’s issues. It must be resolved by the respective airline not from the Civil Aviation Ministry side and DGCA53.
