Air hostesses spar midair over veg meal

New Delhi: On Thursday, passengers flying on Indian Airlines’ flight from Mumbai to Delhi witnessed a rare fight between two air hostesses — one of them from Air India flying as staff-on-duty to operate another flight from here — when she did not get the meal she wanted.
The spat in full public view — between the IC and AI air hostesses — happened on IC 166 soon after take off from Mumbai. Since domestic passengers don’t give their preferred meal choice at the time of booking, airlines carry an equal number of veg and non-veg meals. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and on flights out of Gujarat, the demand for veg meals is higher due to religious considerations.
‘‘Once the crew started serving meals on the flight, the AI air hostess told the IC air hostess that she has veg meals on Thursdays. But by then, the veg meals had run out. So, the IC air hostess politely offered to give her fruits, bread or salad instead as the former was getting very angry. When the lady still did not relent, the air hostess assured her that she would ensure she gets veg food on arrival in Delhi,’’ said sources.
But when nothing could soothe the AI air hostess, her IC counterpart also reportedly lost her cool after putting up with a deluge of taunts for nearly half an hour. And then the two women — ironically of the same airline since IA and AI have now been merged — had a slanging match for some time.
The incident highlights the deep distrust between IA and AI employees, which has made their merger a nightmare.
01/05/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Air India - International May 2009, Air India Domestic May 2009, NACIL May 2009