To save cost, Air India chief orders staff to stop 'non-mandatory' travel Noor Arora
To save costs, cash-strapped Air India has decided to discontinue all "non-mandatory" travel for staff for meetings and instead use conference call and video conference facilities, according to a communication. The loss-making national carrier is looking at ways to reduce expenses amid spiralling fuel costs and intense competition in the fastgrowing domestic aviation sector. In a communication, Air India CMD Pradeep Singh Kharola has said that a lot of "non-mandatory Staff On Duty (SOD) movements on daily basis are taking place across the Air India network for attending meetings and interviews, among others. Such movements "not only involves expenditure on travel, cost of hotel accommodation and providing replacement for staff who is travelling SOD (in case of operational departments) but also result in loss of man days," he said.