Air India passengers to US won't have pre-clearance facility, minister tells Parliament

New Delhi: No pre-clearance facility will be extended for Air India passengers travelling to the United States due to “far reaching” implications of such a move, Lok Sabha was informed today. The airline had written to Ministry of Civil Aviation requesting for this facility which means significant time saving and a hassle free travel to the US. Recently, this facility was made available at Abu Dhabi – which is the hub for Etihad Airways – and has become a calling card for the airline’s operations to the US. Air India also wanted to get more US bound passengers by getting the pre-clearance facility at Delhi.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha today, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said this facility has been put in the “Non starter” category. The minister said that to examine Air India’s request, an Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) was constituted under the chairmanship of secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. The views of the Ministry of External Affairs were also obtained in the matter.

“However, the implications of such a measure/facility have been found to be far reaching and therefore put in non-starter category,“Sharma said.

He also denied any move to stop pat down frisking of passengers at airports. Some media reports had earlier suggested that the civil aviation ministry was examining a request by airlines to stop pat down frisking but Sharma said no such request had been made by airlines.

Air India crew hurt

The captain of an Air India flight from Riyadh to Mumbai “missed out” on announcing air turbulence though he did put on the seat belt sign during a flight on 28 June. One crew member sustained minor injuries due to the turbulence, Mahesh Sharma said in Lok Sabha today.

“There was an incident to Air India Boeing 777 aircraft VT-ALT while operating flight AI-922 of 28-06-2015 on the sector: Riyadh-Mumbai. There were minor injuries caused to one crew due to slight turbulence in the approach phase of the flight,” the minister said.

It seems the commander of this flight had given pre-flight briefing before departure at Riyadh to cabin crew to follow the ‘Seat Belt Sign ON procedure’. While descending into Mumbai, the seat belt sign was switched ON at FL150, due to light turbulence.

However, “The Captain missed out the announcement regarding turbulence, when seat belt signs were put ‘ON’. Cabin Crew took more time to secure the cabin and could not occupy Jump seat in time as many passengers had a late meal due to Ramzan.”

Now, Air India has issued an advisory to all pilots to make turbulence announcements when seat belt signs are put ‘ON’ and to make entry of such occurrences in the sector page of Tech Log. Additionally, an advisory has been given to cabin crew too to follow the captain’s pre-flight briefing and remain seated during turbulence and also when the seat belt sign is swicted ‘ON’. Concerned pilots and cabin crew have been counselled for adherence to the SOP.