As per the recent directive by Air India wherein it has asked most of its cabin crew to share hotel rooms during layovers has raised concerns regarding their need for adequate rest and privacy especially after long-haul flights.
Air India Implements Room-Sharing Policy for Cabin Crew
The airline announced significant policy changes related to layover entitlements, leisure travel, and gratuities in an email sent on October 1, 2024. Prior to recent changes, Air India crew enjoyed individual rooms during layovers, but under the new policy, both “cabin crew” and “cabin seniors” will now share rooms, with only senior staff like “cabin managers” and “cabin executives” receiving single accommodations.
Effective from December 1, 2024, this policy will take effect across all the airlines that come under the canopy of Air India Group and includes the likes of Vistara, Air India Express, and AIX Connect, coinciding with the merger of Air India and Vistara, which already had similar room-sharing policies.
Many of the employees have expressed dismay and apprehension towards this policy saying that the same could adversely affect their rest, health, and performance. This was raised to the Air India CEO Campbell Wilson and Chief Human Resource Officer Ravindra Kumar.
They highlighted the challenges posed by varied flight schedules, differing sleep cycles, and the critical need for privacy, especially following ultra-long-haul flights that can last up to 18 hours.
Policy Alignment with Vistara: Air India Defense for New Policy
As a response from the airline spokesperson towards the same, the justification of the policy lied in the need of aligning policies between Air India and Vistara, stating that the new changes are competitive and industry-standard.
In addition to this, an Air India official said under the condition of anonymity that the crew members with different schedules would not be forced to share rooms, and last but not the least feedback on the new norms is being solicited until October 23.
Emphasizing the importance of preventing fatigue-related risks that could jeopardize safety, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has established regulations for flight duty and rest periods.
A former safety instructor at Air India, Arun Kapur criticized the new policy, emphasizing that individual rest preferences vary significantly.
The other counterparts which include the likes of IndiGo and SpiceJet also implement room-sharing, but they do not operate long-haul international flights, where the demands on crew are markedly higher.
