Pilot’s duty over mid-flight! Lands in a different destination!
A plane outbound for Rukum landed in Nepalgunj! Before you think that it was an emergency landing, let us tell you the reason. Apparently, the pilot’s duty finished mid-flight!
The twin-otter flight had taken off from Kathmandu and was supposed to land in Rukum. However, to the surprise of 8 passengers on-board the Nepal Airlines’ aircraft, they found themselves in the tarmac of Nepalgunj!
Pemba Sherpa was on the helm of the cockpit. The plane had taken off at 3 p.m., however, his duty would be over until 4 p.m. Not wanting to do some overtime ( most probably because it would be unpaid), the pilot decided to haphazardly land in a different destination.
This incident has received severe flak from all quarters. Generally, unless the plane needs to make an emergency landing, the plane is not allowed to land in other places, as a part of air travel safety protocol.
Nepal Airlines is operated by the Nepal government, and has time and again drawn criticism owing to its lackluster performance, corruption and lack of professionalism. I remember once boarding a Nepal Airlines plane from Mumbai to Kathmandu in its new wide body plane. Having travelled through other airlines before, like the now-defunct Jet Airlines, I was surprised why a comparatively better aircraft was travelling almost empty! Well, the reason is staring right at my face right now. It is a common complaint that Nepalese government workers lack professionalism. Whether it is an airline, or a government owned service sector like electricity and telecommunications, customer service is a common complaint.
One of the major issues with government owned services is the unprofessionalism staff show to the customers. From rude behavior, absentia to needing bribes, government officers are notorious to deal with. While the government keeps subsidizing government owned service sectors using taxpayers’ hard earned money, paying ample benefits, in addition to the job security that comes from a government job, little attention has been paid to ensuring a proper brand image and training their workers.
For the airline sector, where presentations from front-line workers like pilots, air hostesses, front desk staff can make-or-break the brand image, it is disappointing that their behavior is not that different from other government offices. While an ‘investigation’ regarding the incident is underway, we all know it is not going to be ‘game-changing’ in any way. Meanwhile, the Nepal Airlines brand falls a bit more!
