Strikes by airline pilots are not unusual and have taken place even in the worlds most advanced economy, namely the US.However, the difference comes with respect to the expectations of private airlines on how their relationship with the government should be structured, especially with regard to regulation, the power of any organized group to hold a country to ransom and the overall belief in doing what’s best for the common weal, than for powerful interest groups. The balance of these three factors often determines the nature of the airline sector and its dynamics.
In February 1997, US president Bill Clinton invoked the little heard of Railway Lab our Act, 1926, to block a strike by the American Airlines Pilots Guild. He was concerned about the plight of citizens on a holiday weekend as they might have had to face distress and disruption. The root cause of the problem was that management and the union had been for apart on issues of wages and staffing. Its pilots union feared that the company wanted to use smaller aircraft, with lower-paid pilots, to take routes away from them.
On 11 September, Hawaiian Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association International, announced that they had voted by an overwhelming 98% support to authorize their elected union representatives to conduct a lawful withdrawal of service if contract talks do not result in a new collective bargaining agreement .Hawaiian Airlines has never had a strike in its 80-year history. The vote authorizes the union to begin a strike if and when they deem it necessary once the National Mediation Board formally declares an impasse.
For Air France, strikes are an avocation, taking place every now and then, the most recent being in November over wages, working hours, benefits and retirement age issue.
So, Jet Airways ltd pilots look better compared with their global peers, given that last weeks mass sick leave protest was their first lab our action. Every crisis is an opportunity for the government to clarify what constitutes an “essential service” and what doesn’t
The Essential Services Maintenances Act has been invoked by the government on several occasions – such as during the Delhi hospital strike in 2005 and 2007, the airport strike by Airports Authority of India employees in 2008 and the truckers’ and oil companies’ strikes in several states in 2008 and 2009.In December 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that lawyers had no right to go on strike, or to boycott the courts. Many states, including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Orissa, have invoked the Act against striking doctors.
However, there are several interpretations of its applicability’s cannot be invoked for a single airline for that could constitute discrimination and cannot be applied unless all air services are treated as essential .This would mean that the 18 August strike earlier planned by the Federation of Indian Airlines – and later abandoned – could have come under the provisions of Esma but the one by Jet pilots was subject to varying legal interpretation.
The larger question for all of us to think of is that commercial aviation is a very risky business and all over the world – including India – airline faces huge losses. Airlines use the losses as an excuse to demand concessions and bailouts from the government to “layoff” when the going is good. This duality in their approach to the role of the state lies at the heart of the crisis in the aviation sector. The need of the hour is to have a strong regulator truly independent of government, and truly looking after public interest to expose this duality and take up the legitimate causes of airlines where due and punishing them where they are lax, such as with respect to frequent safety issues which crop up every now and then with airlines in India.
This strike has blown over.However, defining the scope of Esma, sorting out the fundamental issue of the nature of the relationship between the state and private airline operators, and preventing any guild from holding a country to ransom, is critical for a healthy airline sector and to promote good common weal.Sadly, till date, no one has had the courage to address these fundamental issues.
Unarguably Jet and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd are the jewels of India, their founder’s true visionaries who have proved to the world that India can have world –class airlines by bringing in the finest quality of in flight service to the aviation sector. However that alone cannot be the reason to paper over more contentious issues such as where, how and how much the government does so in pure public interest and not to oppressive private ones.
Shrivastav Krishna is a Harvard MBA and an Indian Administrative Service Officer, He writes weekly on Business, government infrastructure and entrepreneurship .The views expressed here are his own. Respond to this column at offtherecord@livemint.com
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