No pilots, AI's Kolkata-London flight stopped

KOLKATA: You can forget about flying to London from Kolkata on board the national carrier for at least a month. Air India does not have enough pilots to fly you.
"Owing to a shortage of Boeing 777 commanders, we have decided to withdraw our London-Kolkata flights. But this is a stop gap arrangement and we will try to resume the service as soon as possible," an Air India spokesperson told TOI from Mumbai.
The crisis began when AI's three-year contract with 20 pilots expired in May. Another 10 opted to retire. "As most of them were Boeing 777 commanders, we are running short of pilots," said an airline official in Kolkata. The pilot shortage will affect AI flights to Chicago, New York and London from Delhi and Mumbai as well, he added.
But if you have booked a Kolkata-London AI flight, you won't be left in the lurch. AI will fly you to Delhi and then put on board London flights.
09/05/08 Arpit Basu/Times of India

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Categories: Air India - International May 2008, Foreign May 2008, NACIL May 2008