A controversy has broken out after a senior Air India official purportedly travelled on a “General Declaration” — essentially meant for cockpit and cabin crew of an aircraft who are entitled to visa exemption — to Singapore on November 14 on an Air India flight.
The senior official, general manager (Operations — Northern Region) Capt. Chetan Prakash, travelled on the aircraft as a “Staff on Duty (SOD)”. Air India has defended the official, saying he was attending an international conference in Singapore in his official capacity on behalf of the airline. Capt. Prakash is himself a senior pilot but did not pilot the aircraft that day.When contacted recently by this newspaper, Capt. Prakash refused to comment, saying any query should be directed to the airline.
01/12/12 Sridhar Kumaraswami/Deccan Chronicle
