The Hindu Business Line : Air Sahara takes legal recourse on poaching

A civil court in Noida near New Delhi has issued an injunction preventing at least seven pilots and some technical staff from taking up employment with competing airlines, including the soon-to-be launched SpiceJet and Kingfisher.

The move comes after attempts by the Government to intervene and prevent an exodus of pilots and other technical staff from one airline to another failed to have the desired effect.

At a meeting in the Ministry of Civil Aviation on April 19, the domestic aviation industry agreed to a number of rules to prevent poaching, including a four-month notice period by pilots before quitting one airline to join another.

"We want disciplined behaviour otherwise it will be bad for the industry. Some amount of staff movement among the airlines is okay, but raiding is an international no-no," the Air Sahara President, Mr Ronojoy Dutta, said here.

The airline, that has also lost some pilots to AI Express, has written to the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, the Secretary Civil Aviation, Mr Ajay Prasad, and the AI Chairman, Mr V. Thulasidas, about poaching of its staff.

The sudden flux of pilots affected some of Sahara's regular scheduled flights, but operations were quickly restored as the airline had pilots who were undergoing training, Mr Dutta said.

Meanwhile, Air Sahara has employed a senior official of Easy Jet as Head of Engineering, while a former official of United Airlines, has been taken on as head of training.

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Air Sahara takes legal recourse on poaching