Air India pilot refuses to fly without a ‘special’ female co-pilot
Air India flight detained at Maldives airport
The pilot of Air India flight AI 263/264 made 110 passengers wait for over two-and-half hours. The reason: He wanted a particular female co-pilot to accompany him in the Chennai to Male journey.
A day earlier, the pilot had threatened that he won’t fly the aircraft if he’s not provided with a particular female co-pilot. He had even called up the roster to put forth this demand.
When the roster informed him that she has already been assigned duty on a flight to Delhi, and that his demands can’t be met, he called in sick and didn’t report to work.
Yesterday morning, when he went back to work, he started demanding that his favourite co-pilot be placed alongside him in the cockpit. Finally, the airline relented and gave him the co-pilot he wanted.
In all the drama, the flight which was to depart at 7 am finally took of departing at 9.13 am.
Interestingly, the pilot has quit the airline last month, and is presently serving his six-month notice period.
