NEW DELHI: Air India has clamped down on the practice of staff — travelling either on holiday or on duty — from going to the cockpit to meet operating crew of the flight. The airline’s director (operations), Captain Amitabh Singh, on Thursday ordered that this practice be ended “with immediate effect”.
“It has been observed that many crew members follow the practice of entering flight deck before commencement of flight, to introduce themselves to the operating crew while travelling as staff on duty/leave (SOD/SOL). On termination of the flight, crew members again enter the flight deck to thank the operating crew This apart from causing inconvenience to the passengers, also poses safety hazard,” Captain Singh’s order says.
“Crew travelling as SOD/SOL shall not enter the flight deck unless they are rostered as additional crew member/supernumerary crew… as this may be misconstrued preferential treatment by other fare paying passengers,” the order says.
