Pilot leave grounds AI's Gulf fliers

Thiruvananthapuram: Over 5,000 Gulf passengers from Kerala have been stranded after Air India ( AI) cancelled 28 of its flights from Kozhikode, a district in the northern part of the state.
The carrier is facing a temporary staff crunch with many of its pilots and cabin- crew, flying in the Kozhikode- Gulf sector, going on leave.
Even on Tuesday, the carrier announced the cancellation of its Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi flights.
With this, the number of flights cancelled by AI and its subsidiary Air India Express during the past eight days has gone up to 28.
A source in the company said, " Some pilots and cabin crew had applied for leave at least four months in advance.
They went on leave when there was no communication from the management." For those stranded, there cannot be a worse end to their holidays. Some even fear dismissal for not resuming office on the scheduled date.
As several flights were cancelled in the eleventh hour, AI failed to inform the passengers in advance. These days, heated arguments between stranded passengers and the airline officials are a common sight.
To add to the passengers' woes, AI officials have not been able to inform them about their next date of travel.
The passengers also alleged that AI staff at the airport never answered their phone calls.
In a week, AI and Air India Express jointly operate 89 flights from Kozhikode to various Gulf destinations. Most of the cancelled flights were scheduled for Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Muscat, Doha and Bahrain.
30/12/09 Mail Today/India Today

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