Flight delayed? AI to bring out the bubbly, food platter

Mumbai: If you are on an Air India flight and there is a delay, count on the cabin crew to soothe your frayed nerves. If you are in India, the cabin crew will serve you food and if you are in a foreign station, except of course the Middle East, then you can now ask for a peg of your favourite tipple, even when your aircraft is on ground. "Even during a delay, most of the times, food and liquor service begin only after the aircraft has reached its cruising altitude and the seat belt sign has been switched off. The move is bound to be received well by passengers and it will be good for us too as hungry stomachs get aggressive,'' said a senior cabin crew member, adding that it makes economic sense for the airline too to serve food during a delay.
When the aircraft is on ground the auxiliary power unit (APU) provides electricity to run the air-conditioners etc. APUs are not as powerful and with the doors of the aircraft open too, the temperature inside the cabin is higher than what it is when in air and food turns bad fast on the tarmac. What would also be needed though is an extra load of say, sandwiches, pastries, depending on whether the flight duration exceeds "stomach time'' . "Stomach time is five hours. It means passengers don't feel hungry for up to five hours after a proper meal. So on a short Mumbai-Dubai flight, extra food would not be needed but on a 10-hour Mumbai-London flight it would be necessary,'' he adds. The practice, till now, was that if the delay was prolonged, the passengers were fed food in the terminal building. The proposal to serve food inside the aircraft was mooted in August 2007, but it was signed and formalised only last week as one of the clauses in a wage cum productivity agreement signed between the Air India Cabin Crew Association and the airline management.
11/09/08 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: NACIL Sep 2008