AI crew refused to serve liquor,pilot intervened; now he receives union’s threats

The ACEU is a union of the cabin crew of the erstwhile domestic carrier Indian Airlines. There were five crew on board IC 895. Most airlines have cut cabin crew to tide over difficult times and massive losses.

The pilot,Commander Sandeep Marwaha,tried to reason with the crew and,finally,offered to become the sixth member of the team and serve the passengers himself. In the end,the cabin crew came around.

“I explained that it would be unfair to not serve liquor when passengers have paid for boarding Air India. The crew listened to me and served liquor later,” Marwaha said.

But the crew complained to their union,and Marwaha began to receive phone threats.

A union spokesperson told The Indian Express that Marwaha had been unprofessional in “forcing” the cabin crew to serve liquor. “As per the agreement signed between the union and the management,and the air safety regulator’s guidelines,bar service can be undertaken only if there are a minimum of six cabin crew members. It is unfair to expect the cabin crew to pitch in with bar service if they are five in number,” said J B Kadiyan,general secretary of the ACEU.

“All the pilots have been following this directive. We will take up this matter with the ICPA (Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association),” Kadiyan said. Marwaha is a member of the ICPA,Kadiyan said,and the cabin crew union would ensure that the cabin crew does not fly with him again.