‘Minor’ increase in sick reporting by pilots at Air India following the June 12 crash, says government

There was a “minor increase” in sick leaves by Air India pilots in the aftermath of the June 12 Air India crash, the government informed Parliament on Thursday.

“Air India reported a minor increase in sick leaves by pilots across all fleets in the aftermath of the AI-171 accident,” Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol informed Lok Sabha.

He was responding to a question from BJP MP Jai Prakash on whether there was mass sick leave by airline’s crew after the crash. The MP also enquired about measures being adopted for mitigating trauma and stress among crew.

The Minister provided data for June 16, i.e four days after the crash, and said 112 pilots reported sick. These included 52 Commanders and 61 First Officers.

Some sources among pilots claim that the daily average of sick reporting at Air India is in the range of 40-50. There are nearly 3,500 pilots employed with Air India.