Kathmandu, November 19:

In what could be termed a major step towards resolving the ongoing intra-organisational disruption, the management of Nepal Airlines Corporation has finally decided to raise the number of flight hours of the pilots to 45 hours a month to be applicable on a sector-wise basis.

The decision to this effect was taken by the meeting of the NAC Board of Directors yesterday.

Significantly, the number of flight hours determines the pay scale as the pilots are paid on hourly basis. “The captains will now be paid for minimum of 45 hours, though doing so many hours in the present situation is impossible,” a highly-placed source at NAC told this daily. The pilots cannot complete the set hours since NAC only has one operational Boeing.

At present, the pilots are paid for less than 40 flying hours a month. The NAC Employees’ Association had demanded that the hours be raised to minimum 65 hours per month. The pilots say their ‘efficiency will decrease’ if they do not fly for a longer time. The operational director of NAC, Captain R B Shrestha, had quit on Thursday citing ‘hopeless situation of the NAC.’

The employees’ association representing the engineering department, cabin crew and the pilots had on November 12 given an ultimatum to the management and threatened to resign en mass if the management failed to bring both the Boeings into operation immediately. Besides the issue of raising flight hours, the employees have also sought explanation from the management for the delay in making both the aircraft operational. Accusing the management of abuse of authority, the association has demanded that the management take immediate action to stop mass exodus of NAC captains.