Seeking to rule out scope of any subjectivity and favouritism in the deployment and management of crew and other staff, Air India on Saturday announced the introduction of a new computerised Crew Management System (CMS) for pilots.
The new initiative is part of the reforms suggested by the Dharmadhikari Committee report to bring efficiency in the operations of the national carrier.
With the introduction of CMS, the old manual system will stand phased out. This new system will include cabin crew and support staff later this month.
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The system will ensure operational safety, meet regulatory requirements and optimise crew utilisation. Currently, the crew management is done by legacy manual systems for cockpit and cabin crew separately.
The first phase is operative for the cockpit crew while in the second phase the cabin crew along with support staff will be covered from the second half of this month.
Air India services are complex, consisting of international, domestic, regional (Alliance Air) and LCC (AI Express) operations. They are carried out by the operating crew under government regulatory requirements and company rules.
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Integrated tool
The statement said the CMS is an integrated tool for crew planning (long, medium and short term) depending on the network plan and commercial schedule of the airline.
It will provide real-time visibility of operation and flexibility to manage disruptions by providing real-time crew availability; it will also manage and control crew duty time, leave & sicknesses and provide a firm plan of operation to management and crew.
Besides harmonising and enhancing crew utilisation and productivity across the entire fleet of different types of aircraft, the CMS would provide a stable duty roster and online portal for crew communication, it said.
The system would enable real-time monitoring and tracking of crew from a central location and help recover from disruptions quickly.
Currently, crew management is done by legacy manual systems for cockpit and cabin crew separately
CMS will enable real-time monitoring and tracking of crew from central location