Monday, June 01, 2020

Warning of pilot shortage, Air India union seeks changes in corona protocol

New Delhi: Warning of serious pilot shortage in coming months, the pilots of Air India have asked the government to formulate a plan for tackling corona positive cases. “ … A pilot who tests positive will not be available for flying duties for at least six months. We may soon have a situation where hundreds of pilots are not available for flying duties due to … problems, the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association has said in a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

“If a pilot is tested ‘covid positive’, he/ she will be considered ‘sick’ for flying duties and may not be able to undertake flying duties for a minimum period of 14 days. This will necessitate (this) pilot to appear for a special medical examination at either the Air Force Central Medical Establishment, New Delhi or at IAM Bangalore…. both these IAF establishments have been partially closed for civilian aircrew since the onset of the epidemic, resulting in a huge backlog. Therefore a pilot will have to wait for at least three months to obtain an appointment and even after successfully clearing the medical examination the pilot will have to wait for the medical assessment from DGCA which even in the pre-Covid times used to take more than a month and with the present backlog cannot be expected before at least 3 months,” ICPA mail says.
01/06/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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