'Jet chief's aide slept on crew bunk'

Incident happened on airline's Mumbai-Hong Kong flight recently in which Jennifer D'Silva was travelling with her husband

Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal’s executive assistant, Jennifer D’Silva, is alleged to have put pressure on the captain of an international flight of the airline to allow her to sleep on a bunk (behind the cockpit) meant only for crew members under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)’s norms, sources said.

The incident took place on the airline’s five-and-a-half hour Mumbai-Hong Kong flight recently, they said. The flight time between the two cities is about five and a half hours.

"D'Silva was travelling to Hong Kong from Mumbai in the economy class. She wanted to sleep and asked for the bunk to be provided for this purpose. However, the pilot informed her that the bunk was only meant for the crew members and can't be given to a passenger. However, she forced the pilot to allow her to sleep on the bunk behind the cockpit," Jet Airways sources told PTI here.

They added the issue had been taken up with the members of the airline’s pilots body, National Aviators Guild. “The guild members are likely to discuss the issue on Wednesday at their meeting with the management,” one of the sources said.

Without commenting on the allegation, Jet said D’Silva had visited the bunk.

“We confirm the executive travelled in the economy class on the Bombay-Hong Kong sector, seat No 39A. She did visit the bunk area. However, this was not in violation of the DGCA rules,” a Jet spokesperson said.