Air India pilots are quitting the national carrier to serve Gulf airlines like Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways, people with direct knowledge of the matter revealed.

Requesting anonymity, two people the Gulf carriers were alluring away Air India pilots by offering them more than 40 per cent more money. They claimed that pilots of the national carrier were making a beeline to serve the Gulf carriers.

The sources claimed that several commanders on Boeing 777s have already moved to Gulf airlines in the past few months, departure of senior pilots was leading to a severe shortage of commanders at the government-owned carrier.

Making the revelation, they added, "As many as 35 more commanders are all set to take up assignments with these airlines in the next 2-3 months."

Currently, Air India has nearly 115 commanders to operate the Boeing 777 fleet, which includes eight B777-200 (Long Range) planes and fifteen B777-300 (Extended Range) planes. Besides, the national carrier has nearly 40 executive pilots, who had come forward to rescue the carrier during the nearly 2-month long agitation by a group of pilots in May this year.

Meanwhile, Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICAP) on Wednesday alleged that their rest norms were being violated. They requested Air India CMD Rohit Nandan to take strict action against those responsible for violation of the weekly rest norms.