Airlines crack whip on 'high' pilots, crew

New Delhi: Airlines have started taking a cue from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) tough line on drunken flying and begun taking strict action like sacking the ‘high’ fliers.
In the past four months, DGCA’s random checks have led to 15 airline employees — six pilots and nine cabin crew members — being found drunk while reporting for work. Kingfisher has terminated the service of two pilots who failed the breathanalyser tests on October 4 and 21, 2009. On November 1, an airhostess also failed this test and she too was sacked, according to highly placed DGCA sources. The airline did not comment on this issue.
A Jet Airways’ cabin crew staffer was caught drunk for the second time on October 14, 2009, and he had to leave the company by month-end.
According to DGCA figures from last Sept to Jan 5, apart from Kingfisher’s two pilots, four others — one each of Jet, Air India, AI express and Go Air — failed the alcohol tests. “Jet grounded the co-pilot for three months. AI and AI Express cleared their pilots after some action. Go Air grounded its flier for two months,” said the official.
14/01/10 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jan 2010, Safety Jan 2010