Five Air India flight attendants were jailed at Zurich airport after arriving without the mandatory Crew Member Certificate. This certificate, issued under International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines, is a visa substitute for many countries.
Over the past week, two separate Air India flights brought in crewmembers – and across the two, five flight flight attendants were affected – four arrived without any CMC while the fifth carried an invalid version of the document, issued under Air Vistara rather than Air India (the two carriers were merged on November 12, 2024).
Until February 5, crewmembers were permitted to secure the needed certificate on arrival for 10 euros. Since then it’s had to already be in their possession on arrival. Flight attendants either didn’t receive an update about this, or at least weren’t issued correct documents ahead of time.
Detention conditions at the airport are surprisingly harsh. Crew were confined in a small cell where movement was severely restricted, phone use was prohibited, and access to food or proper seating was minimal. Detainees were reportedly left without bathroom access, although this is disputed.
Eventually, airline representatives responded and arranged to access to a transit hotel for their crew. As many as four crew members remained in Zurich for nearly two days while the situation was resolved.
In a massive goof up, 5 Air India cabin crew were turned into deportees at Zurich airport because they didn’t have a legal Crew Member Certificate – substitute for visa for crew. They had to stay confined in this cell for the next day’s departure without washroom or toilet… pic.twitter.com/BTw93Twjqi
— Jagriti Chandra (@jagritichandra) February 7, 2025
Minor paperwork issues can create huge travel disruptions. Never rely on assumptions or past practice – always check for upgrades. And don’t rely on your employer’s travel department (especially if the employer is Air India).
(HT: Enilria)
They’re from. INDIA. They are used to being confined…
@Craig Jones — Not cool, man. Leave your ‘hate’ outta this. Shame.
Thankfully, the world is a much safer place since we were able to sequester those five.
“For politicians, the red tape that ensnarls citizens is a feature, not a bug, of government.” Don Boudreaux
Didn’t have the right documentation… airline knew about it. There was a grace period. That room is far better accommodation than a poured cement and aluminum jail cell that you’d get in airport immigration lock up in most other countries. And the fact they were let out into a transit hotel until return flight….
Sorry, I side with the government there.
A any thoughts on where Air India will try to blame the crew?
A bad situation but the FAs should have abided by the “trust but verify” rule since the stakes were high if they didn’t have the proper paperwork. Shame on Air India too.
Please don’t tell the ” BANK PEOPLE” that you are withdrawing this money to refund the ” company money”.
I once got yelled at by an inflight manager for having my gate agents make the flight attendants on our international departures show their passports before letting them on the plane (at least just flash they had it). So I said fine, watch this, and stopped doing it. That station wasn’t a crew base, so there were crews liable to get rerouted mid-trip to an intl flight (though they are supposed to have passport on them at all times regardless when on duty).
Within one month, had a flight delay because the crew got to a Caribbean country and a flight attendant didn’t have a passport. Then when coming back into the US, delayed further their next leg because CBP decided to be difficult since the crew member took an attitude.
Yes, trust but verify.
“Until February 5, crewmembers were permitted to secure the needed certificate on arrival for 10 euros.”
I doubt it, since Switzerland is not part of the EU or Eurozone. Maybe CHF 20, but it causes one to question the accuracy of the report.
@Tom — Switzerland is apart of The Schengen Area, which includes some EU and some non-EU members–it’s a border-free zone in Europe that allows people to travel between member countries without border checks. Whereas, Eurozone is currency-union and has nothing to do with borders, immigration, customs, etc. It’s not an opinion; look it up for yourself.
As if a crew from India needed toilets ,
Get real, these people sheeet everywhere
@1990, I guess what Tom was trying to say is that, whatever the former paperwork on arrival cost, it wouldn’t have been charged in Euros, but rather in Swiss Francs. Euros aren’t legal tender in Switzerland, as it isn’t part of the EU, let alone the Eurozone. The fact that the cost is stated in Euros leads Tom to question the accuracy of the entire thing.
@1990 Unfortunately the precedence has been set by our nation’s “leaders” and hate is now acceptable. Get with the program.
@Mike @Tom — Pardon me, fellas. I agree, Tom, you’re onto something there.
@Nonya — You don’t seem like you espouse such hate, so please, reject doomerish. Even if people in-power promote hate, it’s still not ‘acceptable’–decent people still out-number them, regardless.
@Mike, thank you for your correct clarification of my intrnded point. As a Swiss, I did not require the lecture about how Switzerland works. I invite @1990 to arrive in Switzerland by car or rail and notice the border checks.
@Tom — I’ve been. Several times. By plane (1999). By car (2004, 2018). Even by ferry (across the Bodensee, 2006). Though, I probably should have taken a train. So, I know what ‘border checks’ are, have experience them before, and their absence of them after CH joined Schengen. Since 2008, there are no ‘border checks,’ yet the old buildings and gates are still there from before—you just drive through, no stop. Thanks to Mike’s clarification, I believe we are all on the same page now, hopefully. You all have made me want to return to Switzerland. Would love to see the Bernese Alps at least one more time.