Air India pilots union threatens to "stop work" if the airline fails to set up vaccination camps on a pan India basis for the flying crew. The concern of lives of crew amid such a surge of coronavirus pilots asked for prioritizing them to get vaccinated.
In a letter written to Air India`s Director of Operations RS Sandhu, ICPA said, "With no healthcare support to the flying crew, no insurance, and a massive opportunistic pay cut, we are in no position to continue risking the lives of our pilots without vaccination." It further read "Our finances are already spread thin covering our bedridden colleagues and provisioning for families lest we inadvertently infect them with the deadly virus that is an ever-present occupational hazard for us." The ICPA said that if in any case Air India fails to set up vaccination camps on a Pan India basis for the flying crew above the age of 18 years on priority, they will stop work. According to the union, many Air India crew members have been contracted with COVID-19 and are struggling to get oxygen cylinders. The airlines of India are also working hard as real heroes to save the country while they are left to fend for ourselves for hospitalization. The management continues to do what it does best, providing lip service and playing to the gallery by issuing circulars and letters with no outcome. The letter added “All we got in return for our dedication and sacrifices is a massive discriminatory pay cut."
Besides, the letter said that union members felt let down by the "self-serving approach of the management, which sees no injustice in organising vaccine camps at few bases but excludes pilots.”
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