Actress-in, Hostess-out

Reportedly Air India pilots allowed an Indian actress inside the cockpit of the aircraft during a recent flight. The actress had occupied the observer's seat during the flight, which is reserved for examiners and observers authorized by DGCA. Post 9/11, no passenger is allowed inside the cockpit. In a "flagrant violation of passenger safety norms", the pilots allowed the actress inside the cockpit.

But this is not the first time that Air India pilots have taken such flights of fantasy leaving the passengers in a tizzy.

In April, two stewardesses were inside the cockpit for nearly 45 minutes as one of the two pilots had taken a long break. 

In May, the Air India flight was travelling from Bangkok to New Delhi when both the co-pilot and the pilot left the cockpit after having spent some time instructing two flight attendants how to fly. They blissfully napped in the business class. But the pair had to rush back and seize the controls of the A-320 after one of them accidentally turned off the autopilot setting.

Another report brings to the fore that about 400 air hostesses of its cabin crew strength of 3,600 who had taken a two-year leave without pay as per company policy have simply not returned to work although their leave got over a long time back. The funny part is that the airline stumbled on the absconders while asking all of its cabin crew to appear for medical test from January.

Can you imagine the state of affairs at Air India! While on one hand, the pilots are having least concern for passenger (customer) safety, on the other hand the airline is not only losing people but not even aware that it is losing them.

Air India has been long limping on crutches. The precious taxpayer’s money has been pushing it on the 'runway'. Salary payments are uncertain, future is bleak, yet government spends Rs. 50000 Crores in buying new aircrafts.

Disengagement seems all around. Pilots are disengaged from their organization and from their primary external stakeholders, the passengers and hence have little respect for the safety norms; the Air Hostesses are clearly disengaged, evident from their attrition; the public at large in India are disengaged with Air India, with majority of them sour at the way Air India is functioning and the fact that their precious tax money is being used for bailing-out a grossly inefficient ‘Maharaja’ who shows no promise or no intention to change. The external disengagement is naturally growing at an increasing rate, with the airline losing its passengers to its competitors.

Air India is suspending pilots, sacking the absconding air hostesses and conducting obesity testing of the remaining cabin crew. However a serious health-check-up of the ‘Maharaja’ is long due, not to test fitness but to confirm again that it is no more animate.

Time to bury the ‘deadwood’!