AI to vaccinate all staff, including pilots and cabin crew, by May end

MUMBAI: Air India will begin a vaccination drive for its employees next week and by May end all of its staff, including pilots and cabin crew, will be inoculated, said the airline on Tuesday.
Early in the day, AI pilots’ union had threatened to ‘stop work’ if the airline failed to set up vaccination camps across India so that the flying crew, both above and below the age of 45, could get the life-saving shots.
“We are in no position to continue risking the lives of our pilots without vaccination,” stated the letter sent by Capt T Praveen Keerthi, general secretary, Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA), to Capt R S Sandhu, AI director (operations), on Tuesday. “Many crew have been diagnosed Covid positive and are struggling to get oxygen cylinders. We are left to fend for ourselves for hospitalization...”
AI, in a statement, said that “since from May 1 all persons 18 years and above can be vaccinated, a schedule for vaccination is being drawn up and it is expected to commence as early as next week and all employees will be vaccinated by the end of this month.” The schedule is also being drawn up keeping in mind the crew who do not have fixed working days, said the statement, adding that discussions were already on for the vaccination of all AI employees, including the crew.
Responding to the ICPA letter, AI said it was “aware of an official communique fr-om one of its unions sent to the manageme-nt...This is an internal issue which is meant to be sorted out within the organisation”.