All India Cabin Crew Association (AICCA) has approached the Bombay High Court seeking inquiry against Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Mishra and other senior officials in connection with "violation" of flight duty rules, which it says could endanger passengers safety.
The Association, which claims itself to be the recognised union of Air India cabin crew, has sought directions to the Civil Aviation Ministry and the DGCA to initiate probe against Mishra and other officials, through the petition it filed last week.
The petition accused the aviation regulator of violating flight duty rules such as giving waivers to the Air India management to operate flights while falling short of the mandated crew count or extending the duration of flight duty shifts.
"The petitioner seeks to challenge the acts of the respondents (DGCA and its senior officials) which are in total violation of various rules, regulations, notifications and laws applicable to the members of the petitioner association, thereby endangering the aircraft, lives of passengers and the cabin crew of Air India," the petition said.
The AICCA demanded inquiry against Arun Mishra, DGCA chief, A K Sharan, Joint Director General DGCA, Bir Singh Rai and Lalit Gupta, Deputy Director Generals DGCA, CPMP Raju, Director DGCA and Maneesh Chopra and deputy director DGCA in this regard.
The petition states that Air India's decision to operate non-stop flights on the India-US route from August 2007 with a single set of 12 cabin crew members tantamount to jeopardising safety of passengers.
"This decision was taken by Air India arbitrarily and unilaterally and in total disregard to the deleterious effects on the health / fatigue of the crew as well as without considering its consequent effects, which were likely to jeopardise the lives of the passengers in the event of in-flight emergency," the petition said.
