CHENNAI: All contract workers who cried ‘foul’ after AAI banned them from using cell phones while on duty, will now be appeased. A day after sleuths from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence nabbed a senior catering superintendent working with Air India after he took $300,000 USD into a parked aircraft and put it in a magazine pouch so that a passenger would pick it up, AAI has decided to come down hard on all ‘regular’ permanent employees and officers. Henceforth, they also will not be allowed to carry mobile phones on duty and cannot leave their work place without the permission of their supervisors, said the airport director.Reacting to the incident, he said in an official statement that the “connivance of a senior employee is a point of concern. He had free access to all sensitive locations including the interiors of the aircraft. He connived with a porter (courier) for some pecuniary benefits.” After some contract workers with Jet Airways were apprehended trying to smuggle a huge haul of ephedrine into a flight, authorities came down hard on all non-permanent staff. Now, these norms are set to become standardised. “This will be difficult to implement especially with the senior-grade officers with AI and other older airlines, but for the sake of security and AAI’s integrity, communication may be sacrificed,” said a well placed source in AAI.Noting that the access gates to the terminal and runway, where the flights stand, are the outer cordon of security, the director said officially that the checking of currency notes was not a regulation among security staff, however, this would also be looked into henceforth. Moreover, no blame has been cast on Pradeep Jose, officer in charge of security for the flight AI 346. “New pedestrian gates with door frame metal detectors and CCTV cameras will be installed to increase security,” he added.
Comments
0 comment