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There was a “minor increase” in sick leaves by Air India pilots in the aftermath of the June 12 Air India crash, the government informed Parliament on Thursday.“Air India reported a minor increase in sick leaves by pilots across all fleets in the aftermath of the AI-171 accident,” Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol informed the Lok Sabha.He was responding to a question from BJP MP Jai Prakash on whether there was mass sick leave by airline’s crew after the crash. The MP also enquired about measures being adopted for mitigating trauma and stress among crew.The Minister provided data for June 16, i.e four days after the crash, and said 112 pilots reported sick. These included 52 Commanders and 61 First Officers.Some sources among pilots claim that the daily average of sick reporting at Air India is in the range of 40-50. There are nearly 3,500 pilots employed with Air India.It is also learnt that on July 22, the DGCA sent a reminder to doctors empanelled with it for carrying out medical review of pilots to use a questionnaire it had first sent out in February 2023 as part of its advisory on mental health promotion of pilots. The questionnaire tests pilots cognitive abilities and alertness levels. The advisory had also suggested that airlines establish non-punitive peer-support programs for their crew.It reminded empanelled doctors to use the questionnaire. “Some of us have since enquired the DGCA on how we are to grade pilots and whether it is to be done on a scale of 1 to 10 or alphabetically. We also need to know what is the protocol to be followed if and when we find a concern,” says Dr Sangeeta Kujur, a DGCA-empanelled examiner and former Chief Medical Officer at Air India Express where she set up the peer support programme for the airline.But the medical circular provides no details to pilots about what this scrutiny may entail, and for which conditions. Published - July 24, 2025 04:57 pm IST
