Aviation safety rules stipulate that an airhostess pilot must stop flying as soon as she reports to the airline that she is pregnant. While all private airlines give women flight crew the option of shifting to ground duties, AI has all along been sending them on long maternity leave as soon as they report pregnancy.

It is only now that the AI management has reversed that policy and given its crew the option of ground duties like private airlines. But this change did not come easy. In recent months, AI has been facing an acute shortage of cabin crew. As a result of this, AI flights have been getting delayed. Things came to such a pass that aviation secretary V Somasundaran had to order the airline to immediately hire 800 cabin crew staffers.

"We have 3,000 cabin crew members, mainly airhostesses. On paper that number was sufficient and should not have caused flight delays. While examining the issue threadbare, we found that our maternity leave system was flawed. Directorate General of Civil Aviation rules stipulate that a cabin crew can't perform her duties as airhostess when she reports pregnancy. AI used to send them on long maternity leave as there was no option of ground duties," said a senior AI official.

Now, the airline will give pregnant airhostesses ground duties like in airport hospitality, office jobs and following and responding to social media for AI. "Earlier there was a huge wastage of talent," admitted the official.

This is a practice private airlines have always followed. However, the crew's pay package of a pregnant airhostess doing ground duties is not as hefty as a flying one because the latter does not get flying allowance.

Some private Indian carriers give maternity benefits only after three years of service, implying the facility of leave with pay during maternity leave. "If an airhostess goes on maternity leave before serving the stipulated time, then the leaves available to her would be less and she would have to go on leave without pay for a substantial chunk of her leave. AI, being a government organization, did not have any such conditions," said a source.

A senior official of a private airline said: "We give the option of ground duties to pregnant cabin crew staffers. Many opt for this. Some don't because they will not get home pick and drop facility that they get while working as airhostesses."