AI’s selective generosity irks staff

Mumbai: Oshiwara in Andheri and Pali Hill in Bandra could be equidistant from the city airport but the management of Air India seems to have a different opinion. The loss-making airline bypassed the company’s policy that any employee owning a house in the city does not qualify for company accommodation and, last week, gave a plush 1,250-sq-ft flat in Pali Hill to Mukesh Bhatia, the airport manager in Mumbai, although he already has a flat in Oshiwara.
Before the allotment, Gurpal Singh, a personnel department manager with the airline, had raised concerns about it in a letter to P Eshwarchandran, officer on special duty to the chairman, Arvind Jadhav.
The written response he got from Eshwarchandran said: “When the request application [from Bhatia] was received by the chairman’s office, all the relevant facts mentioned in your letter were considered and a decision was taken to allot the flat to him.”
An Air India spokesperson confirmed the allotment and said: “Such decisions are taken on the basis of operational and administrative requirements.”
This means the airline allotted the Bandra flat to Bhatia because it wanted him to be located closer to the airport. “If it is a question of proximity, the Air India colony in Kalina is closest to the airport. Both Pali Hill and Oshiwara are equidistant from the airport,” an airline source said.
24/12/10 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Air India Dec 2010