Chennai:

A cabin crew member of Air India has been arrested for helping a passenger smuggle 1.7 kg 24-carat gold at the Chennai airport, authorities said today.

The cabin crew member and the passenger were intercepted by the officials when they arrived at Chennai on an Air India Flight from Dubai on Sunday.

The passenger admitted to handing over the gold to the cabin crew member inside the flight, the customs department said in a statement.

“A search resulted in the recovery of gold in compound form, concealed in the undergarments of the cabin crew,” officials said.

Both have been remanded under judicial custody.

Air India is yet to comment on this.

In a separate incident, a Kenyan woman who ingested 90 capsules containing cocaine worth Rs 14.2 crore was arrested by customs officials at the Chennai Airport. The woman was caught after she arrived at the airport from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on December 7.

“Based on specific intelligence, a Kenyan female passenger who arrived in Chennai from Addis Ababa by Ethiopian Airlines on December 7 was intercepted by the Air Intelligence Unit. On search of her person, she egested 90 cylindrical hyperdense objects with medical assistance,” the customs department said.

“These objects tested positive for cocaine, a psychotropic substance covered under the NDPS Act, 1985,” it added.

A total of 1.4 kg of cocaine was recovered from her possession.

The woman has been sent to judicial custody.

Mumbai:

Air India is introducing a revised policy for the cabin crew members of domestic and international flights, wherein certain sections of the members will have to share rooms during layovers, Press Trust of India reported quoting a source.

The revised policy will also be applicable to Air India Express, which has merged AIX Connect with itself.

Among other changes, the source in the know said the allowances for cabin crew of international flights will be increased from USD 75-125 bracket to USD 85-135 bracket.

There is no change in the allowances for the cabin crew of domestic flights.

An airline spokesperson said that with the merger of Air India and Vistara formalising, there is a need to harmonise these policies for employees of both organisations.

“As part of that exercise, we have communicated the changes applicable to Air India employees. The revised compensation and benefits continue to be competitive and benchmarked to industry standards,” the spokesperson told PTI in a statement.

Under the revised policy, cabin crew members, excluding in-flight managers and executives, will have to share rooms during layovers, the source said.

In-flight managers and executives are generally senior people with at least 8-9 years of experience.

While room sharing for cabin crew is already there at Air India Express and Vistara, this will be the first time such a practice will be introduced at the Tata Group-owned loss-making Air India.

The changes in the policy also come against the backdrop of a section of Air India Express cabin crew members seeking redressal of their HR issues under the labour law. The case is in progress before the Central Labour Commissioner.

Meanwhile, the Air India spokesperson also mentioned about the airline introducing a performance-linked compensation and benefits policy for all employees in April 2023.

The merger of AIX Connect with Air India Express was completed on October 1 while the integration of Vistara with Air India will be completed next month. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)