Air India mandates quarantine for evacuation crew till COVID-19 test comes negative

A day before it starts a mammoth exercise to bring thousands of stranded Indians back from abroad, national carrier Air India has advised all operating cockpit and cabin crew to stay in a hotel until their COVID-19 test turns out to be negative. 

In a mail sent to its crew, Air India said it shall be operating special flights to various foreign stations for Indian nationals stranded abroad and the flight crew operating to those stations shall be night stopping at USA (New York, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago), London and Singapore (on BOM flights). The General Managers of Operations of all bases are advised to ensure Crew transport, movement control staff, and availability of doctors for pre/post-flight medical examination, the mail said.

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'First test, then release'

The crew which are part of evacuation flights have been ordered to stay in a hotel till his/her COVID-19 test comes out negative. Only after that, they will be allowed to go home.

"In addition, the concerned arriving crew shall be staying in a hotel for 24 hrs and will be required to undergo SWAB Test GM(CMS)/GM(DOps) to ensure scheduling of Cockpit/Cabin Crew Station Managers of the above stations to make arrangements for transportation and hotel accommodation (at the contracted hotels) at all applicable stations on a FULL BOARD BASIS (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included). This should be negotiated with the hotel and preferably be done on a gratis / FOC basis." Air India mail read.

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Special plan for New York

Further, Air India stressed that crew members are specially assigned for New York (NY) sector considering its the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.

"Due to the major COVID problem in Manhattan NY, all crew should be accommodated at the contracted EWR (Newark) hotel. A mandatory compliance report is awaited on an urgent basis to ensure that the above evacuation operations are carried out smoothly GM (IFD) in-flight department – to ensure proper coordination for all flights and all bases," the Air India mail to evacuation crew read.

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'Vande Bharat Mission'

As part of the Modi government's mammoth 'Vande Bharat Mission', a total of 64 flights will be deployed for evacuation of Indians from several countries. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that of these flights, 10 will be sent to the United Arab Emirates, two to Qatar, five to Singapore, seven to the US, five to the Philippines, seven to Bangladesh, two to Bahrain, seven to Malaysia, five to Kuwait and two to Oman. All domestic air travels are suspended since the lockdown began on March 25, except relief/special and cargo flights.

(With ANI inputs) (PTI Photo)

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