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Kathmandu Monday September 24, 2001 Ashwin 08, 2058.
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RA’s sorry state
leaves airhostesses grounded at home
By Ranjana Pradhan
KATHMANDU, Sept 23 – The job of an
airhostess looks very glamorous from far, till you ask a crew about the actual depth of
the profession. "The last thing I’d want my daughter to be, when she grows up,
is an airhostess,"says this airhostess in the Royal Nepal Airlines, who has been
flying for the last 12 years.
This clearly shows the frustration prevalent
among the airhostesses presently working in the national flag career. Especially from the
crew’s point of view, there are very few positive aspects in the profession, which
make one happy.
Only few years ago, the number of young girls
aspiring to become hostesses in the RNAC used to be remarkably high as it was the only
option available some nine years ago.
With wide range of destinations and exclusive
fleet of aircraft, the national flag career was indeed the best airlines. And above all,
people travelling on the airlines too used to appreciate the service rendered during the
flight. Hence, those working in the airline were satisfied to a great extent.
But the reality is different now. The
airline, which used to own four Boeings then, is left with only two aircraft now. And to
make the matter worse, one of the aircraft is grounded most of the time. "It is hard
to believe that an airline can operate with just one aircraft," one of the RA
officials said.
The airline that used to cover 12
destinations till a couple of month back is now flying only to six destinations. This
situation has affected the flight crew as well.
The cabin crew strength was 155 about year
ago before 26 more were recruited. But the increase in the crew has not brought the
increase in number of aircraft. So, eventually it is the cabin crew who has to face the
consequences as their earnings depend largely on the flight hours. "We used to fly
for at least 110 to 115 hours in a month but now it has been reduced to hardly 60
hours," says a crew who has been "tired sitting at home" with not much
work.
These hostesses get meager amount as the
monthly salary and have to depend totally on the flight hours as they get paid extra for
every hour spent on air. "When we get only four flights a month, we won’t have
enough earning to support our families,"says an airhostess, requesting anonymity.
"Nowadays, we do not even get paid for
our standby duties like we used to get before," she complains. When they protested
against the new rule, the airline officials flatly answered to "stay home instead of
coming to the airport for standby duties."
But the complaints raised by the cabin crew
are not surprising as the airlines itself is in a bad financial state. One of the
hostesses told The Kathmandu Post that in-flight services too have dwindled in the last
few months. "Sometimes there is no coke uplifted and sometimes the number of blankets
is only a dozen when the pax load is 190," says an airhostess.
Even the association, formed with the view to
safeguard their interests, has given a deaf ear to their problems. "They exist only
in the name these days," the airhostesses say. "Otherwise, our conditions would
not have been this way."
The airline has also decreased the number of
staff during the flights. "Though we have more staff than before, we don’t get
to fly with sufficient crew as the officials say that they cannot afford to pay
them," adds another airhostess. This has left many of those flying on air grounded at
their homes.
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