Dodgy appointment draws AI pilots' ire

Newly appointed ED (safety norms) of airline a safety-rules violator himself, says pilots' body

sweta-ranjan

Sweta Ranjan | April 2, 2011



The Indian Commercial Pilot Association (ICPA) has opposed the appointment of  captain Subodh Nigam as the new executive director (flight safety) and has demanded for a probe into it alleging that he did not possess the required necessary qualification for the job.

The chief executive committee of the pilots association has written a letter to the  civil aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi demanding for Nigam’s removal as he violated safety norms.  He had been removed from the post of general manager (operations) and was appointed as the ED on Monday after ICPA had blacklisted him for violations in safety norms.

"In spite of being aware of the gross violation of air safety norms by captain Subodh Nigam, the management of Air India has yet chosen to give him this officiating position. ... In view of this, we would like a thorough investigation to be carried out regarding his case," ICPA general secretary Rishabh Kapur said in the letter.

Interestingly, Nigam was appointed as the officiating ED (flight safety) on March 28, the day on which the ICPA shot off a letter to Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav demanding his suspension alleging "he has flown on an invalid license and tarnished the image of the airline".

ICPA said Nigam has "flown on an invalid license for over six months in spite of not completing his mandatory DGR (Dangerous Goods Regulation) training at the Central Training Establishment at Hyderabad."

The pilots body had earlier accused Nigam of bargaining with protesting pilots on behalf of the management and of trying to "indtimdate" them.


 

Comments

 

Other News

How social media is reshaping elections

Since Brazil’s return to direct presidential elections in 1985, no candidate who finished second in the first round of polling had ever won the presidency. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, now 81, has just done it. What explains the comeback, and what changed in Brazilian politics to make it possi

Cabinet approves Dearness Allowance, Dearness Relief

The union cabinet chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from 01.07.2026 representing an increase of 3% over the existing rates of 6

Cyclone Arnab strikes Andhra as warming oceans amplify storm risks

Cyclone Arnab made landfall along the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts in the early hours of Wednesday as a very severe cyclonic storm, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125–135 kmph and gusts reaching 150 kmph. Its rapid intensification has raised concerns about how warmer oceans, global warmin

Counting matters but which ones?

The first instinct of public policy is to count. Its harder task is to count what counts. We have become remarkably good at measuring the reach of the welfare state vis-à-vis beneficiaries covered, rupees transferred, houses built, connections installed and services delivered. But some of the most

Inching closer to a trade deal with America

The cooperation between India and the United States goes back quite a time. We need to relegate that era to the backburner when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited US in the times of president Dwight Eisenhower and called the American let-off of 10 million dollars in defence aid to Pakistan as a “gun w

Manch vs Musk: Forty people and a foreign billionaire

About forty people walked the roundabout on Teen Murti Marg to the gate of Chanakyapuri police station, a distance you could cover in under a minute, on Friday to protest against Elon Musk’s Starlink. The walk was called by the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch. Nobody joined them on the way, and nobody seeme

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter