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In a first, Air India has announced an incentive of Rs 10,000 to cabin crew who do not skip Haj charter flights.
Air India, will operating special flights for Hajj pilgrims from seven Indian cities - Delhi, Srinagar, Mumbai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Goa and Nagpur. A total of 230 direct flights in two phases will fly 38,000 Hajjis directly to Jeddah, the airline announced today.
Sources said that cabin crew tend to avoid Haj flights by reporting sick.
Air India chairman Rohit Nandan has written to cabin crew to avoid taking leaves unless extremely necessary and help in ensuring smooth delay-free operations.
"In order to improve the availability of the crew and as a recognition to cabin crew who fly to the optimum it has been decided to give a one-time Haj incentive of Rs 10,000 to all those cabin crew who would be available and regular in their flying duties and not take any type of leave, beyond 01 day in a month of August and 02 days in a month in September and October," Air India chairman Rohit Nandan wrote in a letter to cabin crew.
The airline has a shortage of cabin crew and that has been causing flight delays. Recently, it hired 800 cabin crew but many of them are still undergoing training and hence unavailable for flight duties.
The first phase of outbound flights from India to Jeddah, that commences from August 16 shall see a total of 115 special flights from these seven cities and will continue till September 17. The second phase or the return phase shall start from September 28 and will continue till October 28. Air India will operate 115 flights to fly Hajj Pilgrims back from Jeddah.
