Air India Faces Heat As Union Seeks CBI Probe Over Sacking Of Cabin Crew

Already under scrutiny following the deadly AI 171 Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash that claimed over 270 lives, Air India now faces additional controversy.

The Aviation Industry Employees’ Guild (AIEG) has demanded a CBI investigation into the dismissal of two senior cabin crew members who had reported a technical fault in a Dreamliner aircraft last year.

Union alleges retaliation against whistleblowers

George Abraham, General Secretary of AIEG, told the media that the airline allegedly pressured the cabin crew to retract their statements regarding a technical fault involving emergency slide rafts after a Mumbai-London flight on May 14, 2024.

When they refused, the airline terminated their employment.

“This poses a serious threat to aviation safety,” Abraham said. “We’ve written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a fair investigation.”

Technical incident reported on Dreamliner

Abraham explained that after AI-129 landed in London, the slide rafts deployed in manual mode, indicating a malfunction.

Slide rafts trigger only when the door is in automatic mode.

Initially, both the pilot and the cabin crew reported the issue in official statements. However, Abraham claimed that Air India’s management pressured them to alter their accounts and later fired the two crew members for refusing to comply.

The dismissed crew reportedly escalated the issue to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Abraham said DGCA held an informal probe but made no progress in eight months.

He emphasised that the matter has regained attention following the recent Ahmedabad crash, and the union hopes the Prime Minister’s intervention will lead to a full-fledged probe.

Crew appeals to PM Modi

The dismissed crew wrote to PM Modi, alleging wrongful termination after reporting faults in the Dreamliner B787/8, specifically the VT-ANQ aircraft.

Their letter stated, “This accident was waiting to happen. Our reports on defects were ignored by both Air India and DGCA.”

They alleged pressure to alter statements and unfair dismissal.

Calling this their ‘last hope’, the sacked crew urged the Prime Minister to initiate an impartial investigation and reinstate them. They criticised DGCA for conducting only informal discussions despite the gravity of the safety breach.

“We don’t understand why a proper inquiry wasn’t conducted when passenger and crew safety was at risk,” the letter concluded.

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