Air India top officials, staff to travel economy from April 1; here's why

Starting April 1, all Air India staff, including the top management, will be mandated to travel in economy, according to a Times of India report.

 

This comes at a time when the airline is facing massive backlash over flight delays and aims to improve its image. The move will further free up seats for the customers who are willing to pay.

 

Citing a spokesperson, the report added, “With this, we want to ensure that our premium seats... for which we are seeing huge demand - are available for booking to our customers first, demonstrating a culture of customer-centricity in the new Air India.”

 

 

Unpleasant experience

 

The announcement comes days after former Australian cricketer David Warner slammed the airline for being forced to board the flight without pilots, which caused hours of delay.

 

Taking to X, Warner wrote, "We've boarded an aircraft without any pilots and have been waiting for hours. Given that you don't have any pilots for the aircraft, why would you still board passengers?"

 

Warner's issue was not the only incident. On March 22, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule also slammed the airline for the delay. Sule urged the Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu to intervene to enforce stricter regulations.

 

Sule's sentiment was echoed by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who had an unpleasant flight experience and flagged the issue of "uncomfortable" seats.

 

On March 17, the aviation minister informed the Rajya Sabha that a show-cause notice would be sent to Air India after a complainant claimed that a pre-booked wheelchair was unavailable to an 82-year-old woman. The incident took place on March 4 at the Delhi airport.

 

Recent government data shows that India ranks among the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, with domestic air passenger numbers increasing at an annual rate of 10 to 12 per cent over the past ten years.

 

According to a Reuters report on March 20, Air India, which was previously owned by the government and was taken over by the Tata group in 2022, was in talks with Boeing and Airbus for new widebody jets.