DGCA tells AI not to cut cabin crew

Mumbai: No emergency exit in an aircraft should be left unattended during an evacuation, the aviation regulator ordered on Friday, directing Air India to operate flights with enough cabin crew to man each door.
The order came on a day The Times Of India reported the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had allowed the airline to fly some of its aircraft with fewer flight attendants than would be required if all such exits were to be manned. The airline had said it could operate B747-400 aircraft with nine instead of 12 attendants, B777-200 LR with five instead of eight and B777-300 ER with seven instead of 10.
The airline had put extra responsibility on three cabin crew — manning two exits each during an emergency. It meant that with the decreased crew strength, three emergency exits on each aircraft would remain unmanned during an emergency.
After the TOI report, DGCA took up the issue on Friday. "We issued a directive to Air India today stating that each and every emergency exit in an aircraft should be manned by at least one cabin crew member,'' said DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan.
13/01/11 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Air India Jan 2011