Explained: Why Air India crew are outraged with new room-sharing policy

The new policy by Air India is already sounding warning bells with employees raising serious concerns on their privacy and rest schedules. 

Air India recently introduced new room sharing policy for its cabin crew effective December 1, 2024. 

The new room-sharing policy by Air India is a part of its broader effort to harmonise policies on the backdrop of Vistara-merger. 

The employees received a memo on October 2, 2024 from the airline’s management stating that most of the cabin crew, including seniors, will hereafter have to share rooms with one colleague during layovers. 

What is the new Air India policy?

According to the new policy, cabin crew and cabin seniors will be assigned rooms on twin sharing basis. Cabin managers and executives, with 8 to 9 years of experience, will continue to be allotted single rooms. 

Allowances for cabin crew of international flights will be increased from $75-125 to $85-135. There is no change in the allowance of Rs 1,000 per night for the cabin crew of domestic flights.

Air India Express and Vistara cabin crew already follow the room sharing policy, but this will be introduced for the first time in Air India. 

Why did Air India introduce this?

This change comes as a part of broader compensation package and is applicable to everyone with the exception of senior executives. To compensate this, the memo further included an increase in allowances and gratuity payments to offset the inconvenience. However, this move has left many employees dissatisfied and visibly upset. 

According to media reports, in a letter to the chief executive Campbell Wilson and Air India's chief human resource officer Ravindra Kumar, the employees have raised concerns regarding the new policy and its impact on their rest requirements citing fatigues and health issues.

In the letter, the employees stressed the need for personal space to rest and privacy after a long-haul flight and in times of irregular shifts when the employees have to work over 18 hours. 

The letter also focusses on how different employees have different sleep patterns and rest cycles. 

Air India's response to crew concerns

The airline has come out with its version of the story. Responding to these concerns the airline says that these policies were part of compensation and benefits announced which are competitive and benchmarked to industry standards. 

"There is a need to harmonise the employee policies of Air India and Vistara post-merger," the airline spokesperson clarified. 

What do experts say?

Meanwhile, aviation experts believe that different employees have different ways to ways to rest and rejuvenate post work hours. Some listen to music, some watch TV for entertainment, while some might like to read or scroll their mobiles. Hence, the demands of the crew, as per industry experts, seem justified.