Air India has requested that between April 15 and June 15 employees of Air India will not be able to travel for work or leisure on the airline’s flights on weekends. The cash- strapped airline wants to ensure all seats are available for fare-paying passengers. Only those who have flight duties, such as cockpit crew, cabin crew or engineers, will be allowed to travel in the SOD (staff on duty) category.
Staff have reacted with surprise to the action. One said to local media: “In any case, employees’ SOL travel is subject to load. What is the need of banning it altogether?”
It is not yet clear whether the action means a complete ban. The airline has said it found employees were “internally blocking large number of seats, leaving little for sale” and that “there is not going to be a complete ban. This is an advisory. If an employee has to travel on emergency, he or she will be allowed to do it.”