Reeling under a loss of Rs1,000 crore in the last financial year, Air India management has decided to downgrade its rest period facilities for its commanders and pilots from five star hotels to three star hotels.
Reeling under a loss of Rs1,000 crore in the last financial year, Air India management has decided to downgrade its rest period facilities for its commanders and pilots from five star hotels to three star hotels.
Air India pilots, who until now enjoyed a luxurious stay in five star hotels like Taj, Sheraton and Riyadh Palace, are now trying to get used to three star hotels since the past three months.
However, pilots claim that a stay in these hotels was adding to their stress levels. “We do not find these hotels safe and most of our rest period is spent being awake,” said Rahul Gupta (name changed) an Air India pilot.
Gupta was in New York recently and was put up in Hotel Pennsylvania, a three star hotel, instead of Hotel Lexington (Taj group). While he was out of his room, an iPod and 300 dollars were stolen from his bag. “This is not the only case. Many of my colleagues have faced such problems with jewellery going missing from suitcases. Even police complaints have been lodged at these hotels but our management has refused to move us to another hotel,” he said.
Pilots who stayed at Sheraton in Chicago for years now find themselves moved to Oaktree, a three star Hotel . And those who stayed at Riyadh Palace now wait at the Riyadh airport to be moved to Hotel Sahara. Similarly, those habitual to the room service of Hotel Concorde in Paris wait to be taken to some three star hotel.
The pilots claim that they find all this very stressful as the services and facilities at these hotels are very slow.
According to sources, one of the pilots, a German, based in Frankfurt whose contract with the airline ends this month threatened the airline. Last week he gave a written complaint to the management saying that if he was not given five star hotel accommodations, he will not renew his contract with the airline.
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