Jet Etihad tries to poach Air India pilots, offers double salary to AI777 pilots

New Delhi: It’s the plane truth, and it’s going to be hard for the Maharaja to bear. Jet-age poachers have not only entered Air India’s airspace but have the struggling airline’s best pilots in their sights.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways and its Indian partner Jet Airways are in touch with Air India pilots who fly wide-bodied Boeing 777 aircraft, and are offering them up to double their current compensation. Etihad’s Rs.2,058-crore infusion into Jet Airways for a 24 per cent stake was cleared by the Union Cabinet on October 3 last year.
Jet Airways vice-president (Human Resources) Dr Samar B. Srivastava and US-based agency AeroPersonnel Global hired by Etihad had individually invited 140 commanders of Air India who fly Boeing 777s to a roadshow on November 27 and 28 at Jet’s Andheri (East) office in Mumbai. The Jet-Etihad mass hunt for Air India commanders thus began much before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved sale of five brand new Boeing 777-200s to Etihad on December 26 last year. AI pilots who fly 777s could now end up flying the very same planes for a different airline for a much higher salary.
02/01/14 Sanjay Singh/India Today