Air India crew takes away buffet food in boxes, says UK hotel

[Charchila]

Air India crew takes away buffet food in boxes, says UK hotel

Traveling the world as the crew of an airline was once supposed to be a glamorous affair. Not any more, at least for this airline.

The international crew of India's national carrier, Air India, has been shamed by a UK hotel for filling their lunch boxes with buffet food, the Times of India reported.

Hotel Renaissance London located close to Heathrow Airport alleged that "some AI crew members regularly come down for breakfast with empty boxes into which they fill food items from the buffet, presumably to eat later".

An Air India official then sent a warning note titled 'A buffet is not a takeaway' to all its international flight attendants saying stringent action would be taken against offenders.

Some crew members have reportedly said that such incidents happen because of the reduced layover time in London that doesn't allow Air India members to catch up on food and sleep properly.

Moreover, meagre layover allowances prohibit them from eating out or spending on room service. Hence, some resort to sneaking food from hotel buffets.

"We are aware that this could be a very small minority indulging in such a behavior... but we have no desire to allow the reputation of Air India to be tarnished by a handful of such individuals," its note said.

Link 1: http://mashable.com/2017/02/09/air-i.../#EMwEbYhEzEqi
Link 2: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/57029371.cms

[swami]

We are unique,we need to prove we are Indians

[rationalthinker]

Won't be surprised if 'they' happen to be from the 'reserved' category.

[sarv_shaktimaan]

Unless they are eating and also taking away in boxes, i think it's fair to pack buffet food in a box, but I wouldn't do it if the hotel explicitly said so .. and only if I was in a great hurry.

[swami]

Originally Posted by sarv_shaktimaan

Unless they are eating and also taking away in boxes, i think it's fair to pack buffet food in a box, but I wouldn't do it if the hotel explicitly said so .. and only if I was in a great hurry.

Buffet food to take home ? Never heard that.
AFAIK Buffet is eat as much as you can eat here.

[Cooldude]

Taking food away from buffets does look cheap & uncouth. But this comment in the same news does make sense. Air India needs to set guidelines for it's crew.

The Crew works on multiple time zones, and thus their body cannot consume enough food during any mealtime as a normal people can.
Also they are usually sleep deprived due to timezone issues, and thus are also short of time.
They need to keep some food with the them so that when they feel hungry they can have a quick bite.
Air India should instead negotiate a package wherein the crew should be allowed to take away food, when in staying in hotels.
The food costs lot less than what the airline pays to the hotel in the stay and meals package, and the hotels have no reason to winge about it.

[rationalthinker]

How come there weren't such 'complaints' earlier on, esp. until 7-8 years ago? In the past, the 'cabin crew' would sell unconsumed items to hawkers on Princess (now Shamaldas) street. Every Friday there are quite a few hawkers in Chor Bazaar area selling these airlines' items!
Lifting Buffet food is a new development.

[sgars]

Originally Posted by Cooldude

Taking food away from buffets does look cheap & uncouth. But this comment in the same news does make sense. Air India needs to set guidelines for it's crew.

Depriving staff specially pilots of sleep is a big safety issue.
I remember one firing pilot did not show up for flying a desi airline because he claimed to not have enough sleep.

[sgars]

Originally Posted by rationalthinker

How come there weren't such 'complaints' earlier on, esp. until 7-8 years ago? In the past, the 'cabin crew' would sell unconsumed items to hawkers on Princess (now Shamaldas) street. Every Friday there are quite a few hawkers in Chor Bazaar area selling these airlines' items!
Lifting Buffet food is a new development.

They did that to air India which did not bother. Even the hotel would not have bothered unless the quantity was large enough to cause shortages for others.

[sarv_shaktimaan]

Originally Posted by swami

Buffet food to take home ? Never heard that.
AFAIK Buffet is eat as much as you can eat here.

Few desi restaurants in US allow you to pack a box from buffet given by them, you pay the buffet price. I have packed for roommates many times.

Of course you get much lesser food than the buffet.

[Aashika]

Originally Posted by sarv_shaktimaan

Few desi restaurants in US allow you to pack a box from buffet given by them, you pay the buffet price. I have packed for roommates many times.

Of course you get much lesser food than the buffet.

I think he meant paying for 1 buffet, eating there and packing some.

[sarv_shaktimaan]

Originally Posted by Aashika

I think he meant paying for 1 buffet, eating there and packing some.

yeah I got that, but they didn't state it explicitly .. I guess it's obvious.

[Sane Less]

Originally Posted by sarv_shaktimaan

Few desi restaurants in US allow you to pack a box from buffet given by them, you pay the buffet price. I have packed for roommates many times.

Of course you get much lesser food than the buffet.

This is true for any buffet... chinese, american, indian or any cuisine. Sometimes the takeout is a buck or two more... but you do takeout less than you consume at site, so it is a bad deal

[AmthaLal]

Originally Posted by sarv_shaktimaan

Few desi restaurants in US allow you to pack a box from buffet given by them, you pay the buffet price. I have packed for roommates many times.

Of course you get much lesser food than the buffet.

So do Chinese all you can eat places.

[AmthaLal]

Originally Posted by Cooldude

Taking food away from buffets does look cheap & uncouth. But this comment in the same news does make sense. Air India needs to set guidelines for it's crew.

Agree.
they should.
But also on how to treat passengers too.

Out of my 6 trips to India, I flew 4 times Air India.
Now I will not.
I know, its very easy for them to get pissed because of attitude of passengers, but should not be treating all same way.

On my last trip on return, plane was 1/4 or more empty.
I had pre requested Non-Veg meal, the air hostess gave me veg. So very politely I asked her my preference. And she told me they are out of non-veg. I'm like seriously!! I asked ahead when I booked. She's...Oh, Lemme check. And then brought me non-veg. And No drinks either even upon asking twice, Oh....lemme get it...never showed up.

Also mostly its the idiot passengers. Flight from Chicago goes to Hyderabad, so that flight is mostly packed with gujjus and gultis. And these mofos think the staff knows gujarati or telugu.

Our morons behaves very well in foreign airlines, but when it comes to Air-India, they thinks baap ki property.


I had way better experience with them previous trips though. But its fellow passengers.


But stealing is in the govt employees blood.
this hotel must have told them repeatedly and these staff must be like... yeah...ye to kehte rehte hai...who cares.

They must be exposed so their overall attitude changes. Don't they report unruly passengers?