Air India steps up crew safety, makes incident reporting easier

Air India is making it easier for its crew to report crime or security related issues and is reviewing its hotel selection criteria after a flight attendant was assaulted in a hotel room in London earlier this month.

The airline has since relocated its cabin crew to an another hotel in London and is reviewing selection policies with emphasis on comfort and safety.

Air India also updated internal processes enabling crew to report safety and security related concerns. Last year the airline had selected Coruson software application for reporting of in-flight safety incidents. 

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"We have also modified the Coruson system with tabs so that crew can more easily log safety or security concerns, and we encourage you to use this channel rather than informal ones so that issues can be tracked and overseen by the safety & security department," Air India's managing director & CEO Wilson Campbell wrote to employees in an email last week.

Filing of complaints on Coruson system will enable it to record issues and resolve them in a co-ordinated manner, officials said.

Post the London incident the airline management also reached out to its 8,000 cabin crew seeking their feedback on the hotels used for layovers.

Air India flies to 80 domestic and overseas destinations. Crew duty norms require them to operate flights after certain minimum hours of rest and as such airlines globally offer hotel accommodation at domestic and overseas locations. 

While Air India management insists that safety and well being of its staff is its priority and its periodically monitors hotels it selects, crew members feel that these measures are belated steps. 

“It looks like it is an afterthought after the London incident. Crew had been flagging off security concerns about the London hotel from earlier but no action was initiated,” a flight attendant said. 

An another crew member pointed out that cleanliness and round the clock availability of food in a hotel is an important issue alongside safety is an important issue. Flights take off or land at odd hours and when crew reaches their hotel it may not serve meals at that time or has specific timings for restaurants.

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