Air India crew: Fun in flight!!
Have you ever seen crew members talking loud, having fun or taking their meals in full view of passengers on board? Well, you may encounter this on Air India flight!
Hope things will improve as Air India management has issued a circular early this month to its crew members to behave and go about doing things so that passengers on board are not inconvenienced.
The management has issued a diktat: No laughing too loud. No talking too much and most definitely not having a picnic at mealtimes.
I was travelling by AI flight from Delhi to New York in June, 2012. The flight left Delhi at 1.30am. Obviously, passengers were sleepy and needed rest as it was a long flight. However, I was surprised. Most of the crew members were talking too loudly and cracking jokes among themselves (most of the cabin crew members were in their 20s or 30s). I thought if this happens on a premier sector (Delhi-New York), what could possibly happen on other sectors!
The Air India management has decided to take serious steps after some first and business class passengers, who get special privileges for the exorbitant prices that they pay for their seats, have complained that crew members are often loud and noisy. Since the first and business class seats are close to the galley where the crew prepares the food service, passengers are greatly disturbed and very unhappy.
The crisis-ridden Air India, which is desperately trying to re-build its image after limping from crisis to crisis in the last few years, has taken its most prized passengers’ problem very seriously.
The circular dated September 5 lays down the rules on their behavior and the code of conduct on board. Crew members are “requested to work in the galley quietly and speak softly, as passengers seats in the First and Executive class get very disturbed”, the circular says.
It also advises “restraint” while eating their meals and also to keep the curtains “drawn at all times, while consuming food items”. The curtains partition the seating area and the galley. It also wants crew members to have their meals in turns, “so that the rest of the Cabin Crew members are available to attend to passenger calls”.
Crew unions haven’t yet reacted to the new diktats. But given the financial and image problems that the airline is facing, it cannot afford to upset its best-paying passengers.
Will Maharaja live up to its true image?
