No decision yet on reinstating sacked cabin crew members: AI

Air India is yet to take a decision on reinstating 17 of its cabin crew, whose services were terminated recently for indiscipline and defying flight duty time limitation rules, airline officials said on Friday.

Thirteen of these crew members have ‘tendered an unconditional apology and blamed the union for misleading them’, the airline said in a statement in New Delhi.

The crew members ‘have also given in writing that they will follow the FDTL, roster and assigned duties as per the company's requirements.

“However, the management has not taken any decision on the issue so far", it said.

The management recently held a round of talks with the All India Cabin Crew Association on the issue they were protesting but no conclusion has been reached, airline officials said.

Coming down heavily on its erring cabin crew, the airline had sacked 16 air hostesses, four of them on contract, and a flight purser over a period of nine days in February-March for not following the FDTL norms.

While sacking them, Air India had said it had been ‘asking them to follow FDTL rules for over six months but they failed to do so and this forced the management to take this extreme step’.

FDTL norms are guidelines governing issues like maximum daily flight duty period, including flying hour limitations, rest period, staff-on-duty travel and number of landings allowed per pilot as well as the crew.

NCP-backed All India Cabin Crew Association, which claims to represent the 3,600 cabin crew members in the national carrier, had opposed the Air India action.

Image: Air India mascot Maharaja; Photograph: Vivek Prakash/Reuters