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Treat family of pilot contracting, succumbing to Covid as a frontliner: Air India pilots to PM
Boeing pilots of Air India have sought an immediate and interim measure wherein the family of any pilot contracting Covid and succumbing to it, be treated as a frontline worker and be compensated as per the government policy in addition to any other personal or group insurance
Boeing pilots of Air India have sought an immediate and interim measure wherein the family of any pilot contracting Covid and succumbing to it, be treated as a frontline worker and be compensated as per the government policy in addition to any other personal or group insurance.
In a letter written on Friday to the Prime Minister, finance and aviation minister, the Boeing pilots’ association said that one dependent member of such a pilot (spouse, child or sibling) should be provided suitable alternative employment by Air India.
The association also pointed out that pilots becoming permanently medically unfit or temporarily medically unfit due to Covid or post Covid complications, must be provided annuity at four times of the normal coverage, due to the impending increased risk while undertaking such flights.
The Boeing pilots’ Indian Pilots Guild Pilots (IPG) specified that the airline crew, while still unvaccinated, stood up to the call of duty even during the second wave in April 2021, putting the national interest before theirs and family members’ health and safety.
“..success of Vande Bharat is a matter of pride for all aviation personnel who have played a role in this time of national crisis with Air India Ltd. being responsible for transporting at least 3.4 million people worldwide. In the process as many as 460 pilots got infected with Covid, over 30 pilots have needed to be hospitalised and five have succumbed to it, till the date of making this submission,” a senior pilot said.
“In the current pandemic situation, the Government of India announced an ex-gratia cover of ₹50 lakh for any frontline worker who contracted Covid 19 and succumbed to it under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package. However, none of the pilots’ families who have succumbed to Covid having contracted the same whilst operating the Vande Bharat or air bubble flights has been so compensated,” the pilot added.
This letter comes after the widows of the deceased Air India pilots collectively wrote to Air India chairman and managing director- Rajiv Bansal, for providing appropriate compensation to them and also giving an alternate suitable job to the immediate family of the deceased pilots.
The pilots’ letter read, “We are conscious that flying commercial jet aircraft, is fraught with risks and treat it as an occupational hazard. Such risks were recognised by an Award by (Retd.) Justice G.D. Khosla, Former Chief Justice of the Punjab High Court, back in 1966, which provided for a graded scheme of Annuity for pilots and other crew members who may become permanently or temporarily unfit to perform their duties. In the current scenario, the need to look afresh at the said provisions in the context of Covid is more pronounced.”
IPG concluded by requesting that, pilots with family members who are at a greater risk of getting infected such as those residing with small children, aged parents/siblings or relatives with co-morbidities with them, should not be compelled to operate flights or face punitive action for refusal to operate Covid relief flights.
