Air India pilots complain of inferior protective gear, dearth of sanitisers

The carrier evacuated Indians from China and Italy and will be operating repatriation flights for German citizens to Frankfurt in this week

Air India pilots have written to the airline management and the civil aviation ministry, flagging off concerns about the poor quality of personal protective equipment and paucity of sanitisers available on the aircraft.

Air India evacuated Indian citizens from China and Italy and will be operating repatriation flights for German citizens to Frankfurt in this week.

"Our pilots and cabin crew are being provided substandard, ill-fitting and flimsy personal protective equipment (PPE) that tear/disintegrate easily on rescue flights. Sanitisers are not provided in sufficient quantities and disinfection processes are short of industry best practices .These inadequacies compound the chances of viral exposure and equipment contamination," Air India's executive pilots association wrote to civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday.

Air India did not comment on the issue.

Giving instances of defects, the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) said  shoe covers have failed in as little as 10 minutes, gloves in 3 hrs, and the hazmat suits have been ill fitting and  available only in limited quantity.

"We have repeatedly emphasised that the risk of contagion is very high for flight crew because of the nature of duty. Even at the peak of this crisis if corners are being cut when it comes to protecting rescue personnel adequately, the entire purpose of the government initiative is lost and the repercussions will be felt widely not just in the airline industry but the country as a whole,"  IPG said in its letter.