Relative comfort

Join Air-India and get friends and relatives to see the world.This may not be the airline's official recruiting line, but it has certainly...

Join Air-India and get friends and relatives to see the world.This may not be the airline8217;s official recruiting line, but it has certainlybecome a widespread assumption among its pilots. Accommodation ofstaff-on-leave SOL 8212; officialese for free entitlements to seats for crewmembers 8212; is of course a recognised perquisite of the trade. But it is alsoclearly understood that such accommodation can be made only 8220;subject toload8221;. In other words, under no circumstances can the relatives and friendsof pilots travel free at the expense of fare-paying passengers. This is theprinciple to which the crew members of every international airlineadhere.

Alas, not those in Air-India. For so long has this airline come to beregarded as a republic for the free-loader, that the pilots of the airlinethink nothing of bullying their way into getting their relatives and friendsaccommodated, even if it means depriving legitimate passengers of theirseats.

The issue had long been a bone of contention between the airline8217;smanagement and the Indian Pilots Guild, with the latter insisting that theairline is bound to accommodate the pilots8217; SOL requests. The tussle did notremain merely at the intellectual plane. When two pilots delayed aLondon-New York flight on February 10 after their request for SOL seats wereturned down on the grounds that the flight was over-booked, they were facedwith show-cause notices from the Air-India management. Their colleagues,incensed at this unreasonable treatment, retaliated a week later by ensuringthat a flight from Mumbai to London and Chicago did not take off asscheduled. They did this by the simple expedient of reporting sick. In theprocess, they put 435 passengers to great inconvenience. As this newspaperreported on Friday, the airline lost more than just money it lost out onprecious goodwill, something that Air-India, given its precarious financialhealth and reputation, can ill-afford.

There is a principle of accountability here that concerns the nation atlarge because it is the tax-payers8217; money that is involved. Can a group ofextremely well-paid professionals be allowed to treat the national carrieras their private fiefdom? Can they be allowed to blackmail its managementand emerge without facing disciplinary action? Can they be allowed to playwith the interests of fare-paying passengers and pretend as if they did nowrong? These are uncomfortable questions but they need to be raised all thesame. More important, they need to be answered. Perhaps Air-India may findit expedient to remove a copy of this newspaper from its flights rather thando this, but that would be like shooting the messenger. Thus far Air-India8217;stop brass seems to have opted for the softer option of cracking down inindividual cases rather than ensuring that the broad principle ofaccountability to the flying public is not compromised at any cost. As aresult, while other airlines trumpet their relative comfort, Air-India canonly ensure the comfort of the relatives of its staff.