Air India will have to wait until March to alter its HR policy: Report
According to the acquisition agreement signed with the government in January 2022, the airline had to keep the 'terms of employment' for one year. Therefore, the policy can only be implemented in March 2023.
Air India will have to wait until March to implement its new HR policy, according to the report, as the airline claims insufficient action against a drunk man urination on an elderly female co-passenger on November 26 during the flight.
The report added that according to the acquisition agreement signed with the government in January 2022, the airline had to keep the 'terms of employment' for one year. Therefore, the policy can only be implemented in March 2023. According to the report, the new agreement was supposed to go into effect on January 1 but has been delayed owing to union opposition.
"Tatas do not have a culture of hiring and firing... therefore Air India has developed indirect recognition programmes to promote customer-centric behaviours while encouraging accountability by taking ownership of outcomes. We are committed to adopting the Tata Code of Conduct by eliminating biases and prejudices throughout the organisation. We encourage interactive feedback and want employees to focus on facts and statistics rather than rumours and speculation," said a senior executive, according to the report.
The management has also completed a new service agreement covering key performance indicators and result areas. The executive said that the modification would be faster if increased accountability existed. The DGCA, the aviation regulator, has directed the airline to maintain a database of all unruly passengers.
It also requested that the incident be referred to an internal committee, which will decide the duration of the ban for flying the unruly passenger within 30 days. This can be from zero days to a lifetime ban.
According to a senior DGCA official, the airline concerned should refer the incident to an internal committee of three members, including a retired district and session judge as chairman, a representative from a different scheduled airline as a member, and a representative from passengers' or consumer's association or a retired officer of the Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum as a member.
After the decision of the internal committee, the airline shall maintain a database of all such unruly passengers and inform the same to DGCA, which is the custodian for maintaining the 'No-Fly List.'
It stressed that the airline's internal committee has sole discretion over how long a disruptive passenger may be kept on the 'No-Fly List,' the regulator added.
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