Air India pilots reject economy class
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Air India (AI) pilots have opposed an employee travel policy that makes it mandatory for all staff to travel economy class instead of business. According to a Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation report, the Staff on Duty (SOD) travel plan, whereby staff travel as passengers to a base from where they will then operate a flight, requires a minimum period of rest before they start flying on the sector. The pilots have reportedly said that they won’t be able to get this rest if they are forced to travel in economy class.
“In such a case, the airline would have to provide extra rest hours so that the crew is fit to fly,” CAPA reported an unnamed AI pilot as saying. “Providing extra rest would cost the airline as much due to additional requirement at the hotels.”
AI pilots also argued that economy class travel for SOL is also subject to availability, so staff will get seats only if there are vacant seats available on that particular sector. Hence, the company would incur no extra cost.
Airline management, however, feels differently. “In most cases, pilots moving from one point to another do not operate a flight immediately. Such instances are rare. Safety is paramount and if the decision to fly them by economy compromises safety in any respect, AI would be the last one to do so,” an AI spokesperson was quoted saying.
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