AI sacks 200 cabin crew on contract

National carrier Air India has terminated 200 cabin crew members and refused to accept the withdrawal of resignations of 50 pilots, officials aware of the matter said. The cabin crew members were contractual employees.

The officials said the 50 sought to withdraw their resignations after private airlines rescinded their jobs offers they had put in their papers for amid the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the aviation industry hard. The airline refused to accept their requests and instead asked them to serve their notice periods.

The airline management and civil aviation ministry officials met the pilots on July 8.

Air India spokesperson refused to comment on the terminations, saying: “These are internal issues on which we won’t like to make any comment.”

A pilot said, “We knew about this step by the airline, and hence we had written to them and even discussed in the meeting that they should not lay off only the frontline warriors...”

A senior airline official said layoffs were bound to happen due to the current situation. “...the airline management was contemplating [this] since March. The appointing authority [heads of the departments] have failed to handle the situation and stand for the employees who are being asked to leave.”

A former Air India employee said only a few flights are operating due to the Covid-19 pandemic and this has made the situation worse. “The management should study the non-operating and operating departments and should reduce the workforce accordingly since it is getting difficult for the airline to function as there is no money to run Air India.”

As of April 2020, the national carrier had around 4,000 cabin crew members and around 1,800 pilots.

Source: https://m.hindustantimes.com/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vistara Domestic Premium Economy vs. Economy – Is The Upgrade Worth It?

Economy on Vistara As one of only two  full-service carriers  in India, Vistara offers a high-quality economy product. On its A320, which used on most domestic routes, it offers 18-inch wide seats with a pitch of 29-30 inches. While this does sound standard, the well-padded seats and adjustable headrest make for a much more comfortable offering than its low-cost competitors. The seats also offer an acceptable 3″ recline. In terms of service, Vistara is one of the few airlines offering hot meals on domestic routes (minus short routes under an hour). All economy passengers, except those booked on Economy Lite fares, receive a meal along with hot or cold beverages. From personal experience, the meals are good and enough for domestic hops. For those traveling on Lite fares, only complimentary hot beverages are available. Vistara also has a small buy-on-board menu, which features packaged snacks and drinks, along with some hot instant meals. Originally, the airline served all passenger’s me
Read more

Why the Airbus A340 Has A Middle Landing Gear

Image
The  Airbus A340  was specially designed for long haul flying and had something not seen with other widebody aircraft flying today. It was a unique middle landing gear that allowed the plane to take off with heavier loads and carry more fuel for its four hungry engines. What is the middle landing gear? If you have ever looked carefully at a picture of an A340 (or if you are lucky, in real life), you might have noticed an extra landing gear on the belly in the middle of the plane. Here it is on a Virgin Atlantic  Airbus A340-600  to the rear of the aircraft. Looking at the bottom of an A340 you’ll see that there are already two other sets of landing gears under the wings, why would an aircraft need a third in the middle? Why some A340s have the middle landing gear Plain and simple, the extra landing gear allows the A340 aircraft to have a higher MTOW (maximum take-off weight). This means more passengers and cargo, plus more fuel to go a longer distance. Perfect for t
Read more

Preparing To Start Domestic Flight Operations Within A Week: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri

The domestic flight operations are likely to resume within a week, says Union Civil Aviation Minister  Hardeep Singh Puri . The commercial flight operations remain suspended since March 24 after the announcement of nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. In an interview with  Outlook ’s  Preetha Nair , the Union Minister also talks about the government’s massive plan to evacuate stranded Indians and the logistical challenges involved. He also says a decision on operating flights between green zones of the country will soon be taken. You have hinted that the commercial flight operations are set to begin after May 15 in a calibrated way. Can you elaborate? We are preparing to start domestic flight operations even before May 15. My effort will be to try and move in the direction of starting it very soon. I can’t put a date on it because when you are planning evacuation operations, you need the co-operation of the state governments. In order to open up domestic civil avia
Read more