Politicians seek upgrades, delay flights: Air India pilots

Mumbai: Many apparently austere politicians and parliamentarians who check in to Air India’s economy class eventually bully pilots into upgrading them to business class, a pilot union claimed on Thursday.
In a letter to the airline’s chairman and managing director, Arun Jadhav, the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association, which has 800 members, said that these last-minute upgrades tend to delay flights because they force the airline to conduct a safety check all over again. The airline’s ‘trim and load’ division conducts this check after all passengers have boarded to ensure that the weight across the aircraft is correctly distributed. Since an upgrade changes the distribution of weight, the airline is duty-bound to conduct the check again.
“What can the crew do if a powerful politician threatens you with dire consequences?” asked a union member who did not wish to be named. Union president, Captain Shailendra Singh, declined to comment.
09/10/09 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: NACIL Oct 2009