Senior pilots to serve one-year notice period, says DGCA

Senior pilots will now have to serve a 12-month notice period before joining another airline, with aviation regulator DGCA today coming out with new rules notwithstanding opposition from the pilots' community.

Currently, both senior and junior pilots are required to serve a six-month notice period.

With the new rules coming into effect immediately, Jet Airways' pilots union has voiced strong opposition to the DGCA decision while there were no immediate comments from airlines.

"It has been decided that pilots working in an air transport undertaking shall give a 'notice period' of at least one year in respect of commanders, and six months in respect of co-pilots to the employer indicating his intention to leave the job," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

The notice period, however, may be reduced if the air transport undertaking provides a no-objection certificate to a pilot and accepts his resignation earlier than the period stipulated in the amended rules, as per the amended Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR).

Provision of this CAR would be subject to the outcome of writ petition pending before the Delhi High Court, the regulator said.

Sometime back, a petition was filed against the DGCA proposal to increase the notice period for pilots and it is pending before the court.

"During the notice period, neither the pilot shall refuse to undertake the flight duties assigned to him nor shall the employer deprive the pilot of his legitimate rights and privileges with respect to the assignment of his duties," the watchdog said.

Jet Airways pilots' union said it remains opposed to increasing the notice period.

"We seriously object to this new rule. We were opposed to it and we remain opposed to it. We will strongly protest this move along with all pilots from all airlines," National Aviators Guild (NAG) President D Balaraman told

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)