When my family member was ill last year, I was fortunate enough to get a seat in one of the Vande Bharat repatriation flight whose dedicated pilot flew me to Goa to look after my family member.
With the Covid-19 infection fear, if the pilots had refused to fly the flights I would have been stranded to go home so also would thousands of passengers who travelled in these flights for emergency reasons.
Indeed these pilots came to our rescue. It was sad to read in the news that around 17 very young and senior pilots of Vande Bharat repatriation flights to India succumbed to the virus when operating these flights.
Still worse it was to see that these pilots were not insured by the company and thus have to leave their wives, children and family members to fend for themselves. We hope that are central government will insure the pilots who have given yeomen service to the nation and its citizens.
Also we hope that the government will try to adequately compensate the family members of the pilots who lost their lives to the infection on their duty.
All pilots who lost their lives and those risking their lives even now flying the Air-India flights, you deserve our salute of respect and gratitude.
