New Delhi: Air India has ordered inquiry into Wednesday's AI 263 incident where the pilot insisted for particular woman co-pilot due to which 110 passengers onboard an Air India aircraft were forced to sit in the plane for two and half hours.
The company will neither "condone" nor "tolerate" such acts, Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani said in a statement.
As many as 110 passengers onboard the airline's flight from Chennai for Male via Thiruvananthapuram were made to wait for over two hours at the Chennai airport on Wednesday morning after the commander allegedly insisted for the particular woman pilot to operate the aircraft with him.
"On the issue of the recent incident on (Air India flight) AI 263 from Chennai to Male via Thiruvananthapuram where the pilot refused to fly without a particular co-pilot, the airline has taken a strong view on the matter and has ordered an immediate inquiry into it," Lohani said.
"The airline has suffered enough because of such stray and repeated cases of indiscipline," he said, adding Air India will neither condone nor tolerate such acts. "I have directed all such cases be brought to my notice immediately and strict action to be taken," he added.
As many as 110 passengers onboard an Air India aircraft were forced to sit in the plane for two and half hours on Wednesday after its commander insisted for a "particular" woman co-pilot to operate the flight.
The incident happened at Air India's flight to Male from Chennai via Thiruvananthapuram. In between, the commander also complained of high blood pressure and was treated for the same, they said.
Interestingly, the commander quit Air India last week and is serving a six-month notice period, the sources said.
The commander, it is learnt, had insisted with roster section to schedule the woman flight officer along with him on flight AI 263/264 for Thursday.
"Roster section, however, informed him that his demand can't be met as she was already scheduled for a Delhi flight," a source said.
Later the commander called up roster section and threatened to report sick, if she was not scheduled on the same flight.
"When the roster section did not oblige, he reported sick on Tuesday. But on Wednesday morning when he turned up to operate the flight he again insisted for the same co-pilot, forcing the airline to arrange his favourite co-pilot," one of the sources alleged.
But in the process, the flight was delayed as it departed at 9.13 am against its schedule time of 7 am, the sources said.
(With PTI inputs)
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