I dont understand what these expat pilots in these previous posts keep whining about! They should be praying to whatever coconut shell their people pray to that they have a job that allows them to support their families with dignity. Instead all we see is this kind of "oh these injuns are so bad its sad" kind of propaganda on internet forums.
Speaking from an indian perspective, Expat pilots working in india have been nothing but trouble from the very beginning: many of the incidents we hear of in the media here, from landings on taxiways, to landing on wrong runways, runway overruns and wings brushing airport buildings (at IXA) can be traced an expat pilot sitting behind the controls. And not to mention the AIX crash at Mangalore. There is too much of a coincidence here.
I have seen some of these characters come into my flying school and many of them find it difficult to speak english! Most of them come from third rate flying schools "back home" and then try to blame it all on these "injuns". Given this poor history of expat pilots, why is the Govt not keeping its promise of banning the employment of foreign pilots by Indian carriers? The Govt here had made a promise to this effect before the 2009 elections and airlines were even served notices. But the deadline for implementing this seems to keep getting extended. Who is the Govt of India working for?
And if these expat pilots think its so bad here, then maybe they should just go back to their home countries. This will ensure that local talent gets a chance to get jobs.
I blame the Indian Govt for allowing foreign pilots to have a free run of the country's skies. Why should Indian carriers, put up with the dramatics of these expat pilots after putting them up in expensive 5/7 star hotels (while Indian pilots are put up in cheaper 3 star hotels around Mahipalpur)? An RTI application reveals that Air India spends 4 lakh rupees a month on a single expat pilots hotel stays alone! This at a time when indian students passing out of our flying schools are sitting jobless at home and taking up jobs at call-centers!
I say since the expat pilots find it so bad working in India, the Indian govt should tighten regulations with regards to recruitment and employment of foreign nationals with Indian carriers.
Coming back to this issue: I am not exactly a fan of Air India and lord knows they have a lot of things to improve on. But they(and other indian carriers, except perhaps Paramount) have systems that allow incidents like these to be reported and dealt with through the proper channel. Thats what this so-called "witness" should have done instead of whining on internet forums and broadcasting it on public networks. That only triggers a classic cover-up action.
PS: If a US pilot had resorted to this kind of chain emails with a US carrier, what do you think would have happened?
I hope Air India gets to the root of these emails, traces out the fellow and sends him home on the next flight out.
Last edited by royskaria; 17th Nov 2010 at 11:18.