National carrier Air India has announced that it wil inoculate all its employees by the end of May. The decision comes after the pilots of Air India had threatened strike if pan-India vaccination camps are not held for them. In a letter to the management, today, the staff have questioned why they were excluded from the vaccination camps for 18-45-year age group held by the management.
In a letter to Air India director for operations R S Sandhu, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICAP) had threatened to stop work if the management fails to come up with such camps. The pilot body alleged that many crews have been tested positive for Covid-19 and are struggling to get oxygen cylinders. The pilots are left to fend for themselves for hospitalisation, the ICPA added.
The pilots in their letter alleged they feel "let down by the self-serving approach" of the management which only handed them "a massive discriminatory pay cut" in return for their services.
Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, Air India has been operating flights since the lockdown was partially lifted last year, bringing in Indian nationals stranded abroad during the pandemic. The airlined has also ferried supplies of medication and hospital equipment, including PPE kits and other items -- to remote corners of the country.
