Air India offices to go paperless

Ninety-six Air India offices will go paperless from Tuesday. For this purpose, the airline has started using technology called the Document Management System internally, Harpreet A De. Singh, chief of flight safety, Air India, told The Asian Age on Monday.

However, not all documents will go online. Ms Singh said that the documents related to flight safety and flight routes and timing data need to have the concerned authorities’ signatures, and hence access to them is restricted, as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) rules. “So, we can’t put them online now, but other internal office work of the airline and manuals will be put online henceforth,” she said

The national carrier, which operates at as many as 84 places around the globe, has started several initiatives to save fuel and energy. Ms Singh said that, in one such move, pilots have been instructed not to carry additional fuel on board as heavier aircraft consume more power.

The airline will also have a series of meetings with the DGCA, Airports Authority of India and International Air Transport Association this week to chalk up an agenda on power consumption.

On Sunday, which was observed as World Environment Day, the airline launched a movie on environmental awareness, which air travellers can watch as part of their in-flight entertainment. The national carrier is marking this year’s Environment Day Week in line with Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, where a cleanness drive was conducted in the Air India building on Monday. Air India staffers have also started volunteering for cleaning operations and tree plantation for which teams of ten volunteers were formed. The airline plans to inculcate waste management on its office premises in Santa Cruz (east) and eco-friendly products will be made there. These products will first undergo several checks, and if they clear them chances are recyclable glasses and plates will be used onboard flights, sources said.

The airlines had set up a solar energy plant in Delhi, and this year it’s likely to set up a water-harvesting plant in Mumbai, they said.