Compensation provided for Air India crash families

Dubai: The families of all but one who died in the Air India Express plane crash in Mangalore last month have received the interim compensation.

Aravind Jadhav, chairman of NACIL (National Aviation Company of India Limited), the parent company that operates Air India Express, told a press conference that 159 out of 160 of the air crash victims' families had received the money.

The one outstanding compensation claim has been delayed because the family of the victim needed more time to travel from Dubai.

He added that the compensation was distributed within a record time of 20 days.

Responding to complaints of poor service at the low cost airline, Jadhav said the company is setting up a call centre in Trivandrum, Kerala, which will be operational by mid-July.

He said lot of work is yet to be done to finalise the full compensation amount.

“It has to be worked upon the basis of their livelihood, the type of work they have been doing, their salaries etc. We are having the full cooperation from the embassies and the regional authorities to work on the passport requirements, work permit requirements etc so that final assessment can be done. Again that can take time depending upon the individual families’ ability to provide the required documents,” he said.

Jadhav added that the airline has set up a voluntary group called Angels of Air India with some 270 staff members along with the team in Dubai and the Gulf region to coordinate and reach out to the families of the victims.

A memorial prayer meeting will be held on July 22 at the crash site in Mangalore and simultaneously in Dubai, he announced.