A message about Swati Kovind - the daughter of President Ram Nath Kovind, is viral over WhatsApp and social media stating how the Tatas have silently transferred her from the post of a flight attendant to the internal affairs division at Air India.
However, the message is misleading as news reports from 2017 reported about Swati being moved to a ground role due to security reasons. The move is much before the Tata Group retook control of Air India this year.
The message goes as following: "Her name is Swati. She was a flight attendant in 'Air India', the leading airline in the country. She's been working for several years as a flight attendant on 'Air India' Boeing 777 & 787 aircrafts in distant lands like Australia, Europe and America. But - the full name of this 5.4' tall Swati is Ms. Swati Kovind! Yes, you've guessed it right - she's the Daughter of President Ramnath Kovind! Until now, even the 'Air India' authorities did not know about this. Neither Pres. Ramnath Kovind nor his daughter Swati Kovind disclose the matter, so it was a secret till recently...! But it's no longer a secret... because 'Air India' has been handed over to the Tatas. Upon learning the fact, the present Tata authorities have honourably and silently transferred Swati Kovind from the post of flight attendant to the internal affairs division of the 'Air India' office - probably out of concern for her special security needs (as the President's daughter). Deep respects to our President... he's quietly done his work of instilling sterling qualities... in his daughter... a rare example among today's politicians."
The message has been widely shared on WhatsApp and Facebook.
Click here to view one such post.
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Fact Check
BOOM performed a keyword search using 'Swati Kovind' and 'Air India' and found several news reports published in 2017. The news reports stated she was assigned ground duties because of security reasons. Ram Nath Kovind took oath as India's 14th President on July 25, 2017.
A Hindustan Times report published on November 12, 2017 stated, "Swati, who doesn't use a surname, was a cabin crew on Air India's long-haul Boeing 787 and Boeing 777 flights, but for nearly a month now she has been deputed with Air India's integration department at the airline's headquarters here, the official said. The department oversees human resource integration of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India since their merger in 2007."
The article further quoted an airline source who said, "...as a President's daughter I don't think she can fly as a crew with security personnel around. It is not possible to block so many passenger seats".
Other news outlets such as NDTV, ABP News also published the news reports on the same at that time.
Screengrabs From News Reports Published In 2017
It was not immediately clear in what capacity Swati currently works at Air India. A spokesperson for the airline declined to comment, when BOOM reached out.
Swati's move internally at Air India is also not connected to the sale of the airline to the Tata Group, which took place in October 2021. The group took over management and control of the airline, in late January this year.
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