Flying Through Covid Turbulence

The pandemic couldn’t have struck at a worst time for airlines as they cope with depleting loads and increasing fear. After the Indian Commercial Pilots Association move not to fly till pilots are vaccinated, airlines have got their act together

- Shobha John

THE second wave of Covid19 has caught the whole of India within its vicious grip. While healthcare staff was designated as frontline workers and given vaccinations first, flight crew too has been urging that they be called frontline workers and be vaccinated fast as their jobs are risky. Many have flown abroad to hot spots to bring back passengers as part of the Vande Bharat flights. Others have fallen sick or succumbed to the pandemic, leaving their ilk feeling dejected and reluctant to fly.

In fact, a Position Paper of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in December 2020: “Given the importance of air transport in distribution of vaccines, IATA calls on governments to prioritise aviation workers for access to vaccination once the elderly, vulnerable groups and health workers have been vaccinated.” But that did not happen in India.

All this came to a head on April 28, 2021, when all 242 people onboard Air India’s Delhi-Amritsar-Rome flight were quarantined after 30 passengers and two crew—the commander and lead cabin crew member—tested positive for Covid on arrival. Italian authorities sent 232 passengers, eight cabin crew and two pilots to a Covid centre hospital for quarantine.

One of the crew wrote to the airline management, saying that the “room is dirty; no soap or towel provided; AC does not work....It has been two days since I asked them to open my room window (but) no one has come until now”. She said that “uncooked” food was served to them and warned that they all would “definitely fall sick either by eating uncooked food or by hunger”. AI made arrangements to fly them back home, but this episode left a sour taste in the mouths of flying crew.