There’s a reason it’s called the cockpit

Why would a commander with Air India refuse to fly as scheduled? Because he was sick? Because the aircraft had a technical snag? Or because he wasn’t assigned his favorite woman co-pilot? Out of the reasons listed, if the last one seems a little incredulous to you, don’t worry – you’re not alone. We can’t, for the life of us, understand how this would become a ‘flight-stopper’ – unless there was a more serious reason involved that we’re not aware of. The commander of an Air India flight kept 110 passengers waiting for over two and a half hours after insisting that he would not fly unless a “particular woman co-pilot” was assigned to fly with him. Also, we’re not saying you should put two and two together, but the commander did complain about high blood pressure after having had his way, and had to be subsequently treated. Well, maybe flying is exciting work – but the passengers who were needlessly kept waiting for so long certainly didn’t feel the same (and rightfully so, if we might add).

What could have prompted the commander to take such a course of action? Is it that he did not like who he was to fly with? Or is it that he liked someone else more? Like Orwell wisely said, all animals are equal, but some are – well, you get the thrust of it.

This strange incident transpired on the AI flight from Chennai to Male via Trivandrum. The commander apparently is already on his 6 month notice period, having quit Air India last week. There is more to it – he also tried to arm-twist the airline into rostering the lady in question with him on the Male leg on Wednesday. However, she was already scheduled to fly to Delhi, and the roster section was unable to oblige – despite the commander allegedly threatening to report sick. Seeing how his demands were not met, he did exactly that – called in sick. Having given his employers a taste of the consequences, he turned up the next day only to repeat his demands. A case of ‘my way or the runway’, this turned out to be. The airline was forced to oblige this time round, and made arrangements for the commander to be accompanied by his choice of co-pilot. The flight that was scheduled to depart at 7:00 am eventually departed at 9:15 am after all ‘arrangements’ were made to the satisfaction of the commander.

Employees in other industries such as IT are known to pull stunts to try get out of their notice period a little faster. Could this be an attempt at such? Or is this a more serious instance of an individual holding an entire aircraft ransom to his whims and fancies? Or is there a third, unknown reason behind this? Whatever be the case, the news of this incident will certainly make for some skeptical wtf moments

While airlines are known to offer passengers their choice of cuisine on flights, this episode certainly sets the bar at a rousing new high.

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