Govt relaxes home quarantine rule for crew carrying Covid-19 patient

Airline executives said that such a rule created hindrance in operations as on most days coronavirus positive cases were detected in multiple flight of the same airline

The central government has relaxed a rule that made it mandatory for airline crew to undergo home quarantine for 14 days if they had a Covid-19 positive case in the aircraft.

The government has left it to airlines to decide the steps to be followed in such cases. The dilution was done by Ministry of Health after airlines raised concerns over shortage of crew as Covid-19 cases among air passengers increased. 

“Significant number of crew was becoming non-operational due to the quarantine rules,” Ministry of Civil Aviation wrote to the Ministry of Health on June 3.

The airlines will now conduct their own risk assessments of the crew.

“It has been noted that airline crew are wearing full PPE, including N95 mask during the flight. 

Further, the crew is also not serving any food or snacks to passengers. The passengers also undergo mandatory screening and have to wear mask throughout the flight. Hence, possible risk of infection of crew from passenger is minimal,” said Alok Saxena, joint secretary at the health ministry.

Industry sources said Air India and private airlines lobby group Federation of Indian Airlines had approached the Ministry of Civil Aviation seeking a relaxation of the rule. “On confirmation that the passenger has tested positive, the crew will be directed for consultation at government designated hospitals and continue to be under home isolation for 14 days and observed for symptoms,” the earlier direction said.

Airline executives said the rule hindered operations as Covid-19 positive cases were detected on multiple flights of the same airline. “There was a day when six positive cases were found in six different flights of IndiGo. While it’s just six passengers, 36 crew members were quarantined for 14 days. This created massive operational problems,” said an airline executive.

Things became more complex with simultaneous operation of domestic, repatriation flights and international charters. It is mandatory for crew to be under five days of quarantine after operating international flight — repatriation and charter.

“SpiceJet and GoAir have sent a large number of crew on leave without pay thinking that with smaller scale of operations, they will not need so many crew members. But the quarantine rules forced them to call some back,” a second executive said.

This increased the cost of operation as airlines operating fewer flights required a large pool of crew members. “This decision by the government will bring down the requirement of crew for airlines and lead to some cost saving,” the executive said.

However, multiple crew members were apprehensive of this decision as they said it increases the chances of Covid-19 spreading. “This decision is very good for the company. But, personally I am tensed. What if a crew member gets infected from the passenger and is not showing symptoms immediately. He or she may spread the disease,” a pilot flying for a private airline said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.