Air India blames crew for misusing galley equipment

The national airline Air India which has blamed crew shortage for some of its punctuality woes is now blaming crew members for misusing equipment In a letter midday has a copy that has been sent to crew members they have been blamed for misusing the galley equipment causing the airline to spend huge amounts on repairing itThe equipment which is not functioning is marked US unserviceable so the next operating crew team knows this Here a coffee maker has been marked a damaged oven in an aircraft is marked the same way and a toilet marked unserviceableThe letter which bears the signature of an Air India Senior Manager and was sent on July 23 states ldquothe galley equipment aircraft passenger amenities are not being handled in the appropriate manner by the crew hence getting damaged leading to prolonged unserviceable equipment and further leading to extremely high repair costsAlso Read AIs lowcost carrier wants crew to get uniforms stitched for low cost tooThis also adversely affects the efficiency and quality of services being provided to the passengersrdquo It goes on the say ldquohellipuse of sharp instruments ballpoint pens has been observed on galley equipmentHenceforth it would be the responsibility of the crew taking over the galley to observe and report any damage to the equipment and bring it to the notice of the CCIC Cabin crew in charge and thereafter log in the cabin logrsquoMaintain equipmentAccording to senior crewmembers of the national carrier the galley equipment is not maintained by the airline which leads to issues with regard to meeting passenger needs A crewmember explained ldquoMany a times the knobs on the drawers arenrsquot fixed in a manner so that things inside the drawer can be used as and when requiredAt such times when the drawer cannot be pulled out and a passenger has demanded for something the crew tends to use a ballpoint pen or a knife to help pull out the drawer and serve the passengerIf the airline starts maintaining such things there wouldnt be any need for the use of sharp objectsrdquo Another crew member from the airline said ldquoAccording to rules an entry in a log book one log book is present in every aircraft in the cockpit mentions the nonworking objects but many times some of the crew happen to skip checking the log entry made by the crew of the previous destinationHence sometimes to make it less troublesome for the next operating crew the object is marked to be US Unserviceable indicating that some of the galley equipment isnrsquot functioning It is the responsibility of the airline to repair such things because in the end it is we who cut a sorry figure in front of passengersHow are we responsible for any damagerdquo He said ldquoAny kind of damage may also be a result of a mistake while food is being loaded by the caterers Why is the crew being pulled up for even thisrdquoWarningThe letter warns ldquoThe same if not reported it would be construed as damaged on the particular sector and the concerned crew members would be held responsible and appropriate action as deemed fit would be taken including recovery of monies for replacement of equipmentrsquoAn airline official said ldquoThe airline spends a few lakhs in repairing this equipment The crew cannot be held responsible for damage because the equipment is damaged at the source that is the catering section Further the crew only use it and faulty equipment has been the reason for delayed service to passengersRead Story Air Indias feud with staff causes 45 flight delays in a weekGalley carts donrsquot function ovens dont work how can the crew be held responsiblerdquo The letter also mentioned that the engineering department would ensure that any deficient or damaged equipment being handed over to the crew is logged in the cabin log accordinglyThe other sideAn AI spokesperson said ldquoAt Air India customer convenience is of prime importance We take pride in providing efficient and quality services to our customersIn line with that we have shared a circular with all our employees advising them to handle the galley equipment as well as aircraft passenger amenities in a manner which leads to proper serviceability of the equipmentAir India has written to its cabin crewmembers However such kind of circulars have also been given to other department employees and it is not only for cabin crew In our efforts to improve the efficiency and quality of services being provided for passengers it has also been issued to cabin crewrdquo