Summary
The Court held that a pilot could not withdraw her resignation during the six-month notice period in the circumstances of this case. The applicable Civil Aviation Requirement made notice a public-interest safeguard allowing the airline to recruit and train a replacement, and the airline had acted on the resignation by doing so. This brought the case within recognised exceptions to the ordinary rule permitting withdrawal before resignation takes effect.
Issues
- Whether a pilot could withdraw her resignation before expiry of the mandatory notice period after the airline arranged and trained a replacement.
- Whether the purpose of the aviation notice requirement qualified the ordinary rule governing prospective resignation.
Provisions considered
- Paragraphs 3.3–3.7, Civil Aviation Requirement, Section 7, Series X, Part II, Issue II, 27 October 2009The six-month notice served public interest and enabled replacement of trained pilots; its purpose and the replacement arranged here qualified the ordinary withdrawal rule. (¶¶ 4, 13–15)
Held
- Ordinarily an employee may withdraw a prospective resignation before it becomes effective, subject to the governing legal or contractual provisions. Precedent also recognised that arrangements made to replace the employee could alter the position. (¶ 10–12)
- The mandatory aviation notice period principally protected travelling passengers from disruption and enabled recruitment and training of a substitute. The duty to arrange replacement began on receipt of resignation; this airline had found and trained another captain in reliance on it. (¶ 13–14)
- The resignation was unequivocal, with the notice period reflecting the aviation requirement and appointment terms. Given those special provisions and the replacement arrangements, the pilot could not withdraw it; the High Court’s relief was reversed. (¶ 14–16)
Result
Airline’s appeal allowed; Single Judge and Division Bench judgments set aside and the pilot’s writ petition dismissed. Withdrawal of the 3 July 2017 resignation held ineffective in these circumstances. No order as to costs.