Everyone knows that occasionally employees can be sneaky or underhand. Even entire corporations can behave in a manner that is less than scrupulous, but you might well believe, that with all the rules and regulations surrounding the aviation industry, that it would be pretty much free from corruption.
The truth is, this problem affects every industry, and airlines have been brought under the spotlight for a variety of issues.
Air India staff under scrutiny
The chief executive of Air India has recently had to crack down on staff upgrading their friends and family travelling in economy, to business or first class seats. The policy is, if there are spare seats in higher classes, these must be offered to passengers, who can pay a fee onboard to upgrade their seat. However, this has not been happening in all cases, instead, free, unauthorized upgrades are being given to people known to the crew.
Pilots are increasingly abusing their power
Pilots have been singled out in particular, for misusing their level of authority. They too have been found to be giving free upgrades to friends and relatives, but there have been many other reported incidents too. In one case, a pilot stated that there was a fuel emergency. There was no such emergency, he simply wanted to land sooner. Perhaps he had a date that night?
Air India set to improve their reputation
While corruption and misuse of authority is widespread across the industry, several issues involving Air India have been highlighted in the press recently, and so they are trying hard to deal with these issues in order to improve their flagging reputation. In the past, they have been accused of delaying planes for particular special guests, particularly politicians. In one case, a plane was delayed for several hours, just because an important politician was late for his flight. They have since made a point of stating that they will be issuing fines to anyone who causes a plane to be delayed, regardless of their political status.
Aeroplane manufacturers have not avoided the spotlight
The problem doesn’t just lie with the airlines. Manufacturers have also been in the news for taking bribes, and using corruption to win large and prestigious contracts. Hopefully, with these issues being brought to the forefront of the news, and some major carriers making steps to eliminate bad practice and corruption, things will improve, slowly but surely.
Emily is an avid writer with a passion for the travel industry. She also loves learning and writing about nutrition and healthy living. Emily is based in the UK.
