Air India’s Oct 2008 decision returns to haunt it

New Delhi: When Air India decided to send its employees on leave without pay, in October 2008, it could not have foreseen the problems that would result from that decision. During the October 2008 crisis, the national carrier had offered to send as many as 15,000 workers on leave without pay for a period of
three to five years.
However, it was voluntary on the employees’ part, many of whom applied for it and got the nod from the airline six months ago.
But now that the airline has shifted to Terminal 3 and is facing a staff crunch, the decision taken two years ago has returned to haunt it.
“Now that the requirement has suddenly increased, Air India (AI) is missing those employees. As a result, the airline is on a hiring spree,” an official said.
The carrier has nearly 500 cabin crew staff at the Delhi airport, of which 50 took up this offer and went on leave.
The problem began on October 31, when AI decided to shift the arrival of 11 of its domestic flights to the newly-built Terminal 3.
The limited airline staff had to manage five terminals: domestic arrival and departure at Terminal 1, international arrival and departure at T3 and domestic arrival at T3.
14/11/10 Faizan Haider/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Air India Nov 2010