Air India - Perceptions tailoring reality - an outsiders take on it.

I recently read about a NRI’s ranting against Air India, in fluent Punjabi he reportedly cursed and abused as only a NRI can in India or about India. Over a period of time I have repeatedly come across various articles on Air India’s poor services and disparaging observations about its cabin crew, specially the Air Hostesses. I am no fan either of its cabin crew, specially when they choose to chatter amongst themselves on long haul flights. If you get a rear seat, it can be bothersome if not irritating. However, I do believe that perceptions tailored by its state ownership have also caused prejudices to be aired periodically against the airline. Its part of the fair game to disparage Air India, as though on other airlines the passengers are being treated as royalty. The planes, the service, the timings, the levels of courtesy, the efficiency, it’s the done thing to criticise.  

As one young girl who flies frequently told me, the air hostess on the Air India flight who served her tea was old enough to be her aunt and the steward on the return flight was old enough to be her uncle. Now this is pure prejudice as age is not really a factor, but my explanation that the air hostess is first deployed for safety and then serving the passengers and that age has a limited role in this process was totally ignored. My own brother once said as we debated it that age dulled the looks factor, again is it germane ?  The main concern is that perceptions are tailoring reality here.

Let me start with the private airlines, in any emergency would I trust myself with any of the young girls assigned as hostesses.  Atleast I would not, no mater what the DGCA certifies. Looks and age are secondary, you do not board an aircraft for such reasons. Secondly and more important, the degree of ill treatment meted out to the air hostesses by some passengers – wealthy or not - on private airlines is any day of a higher order than on Air India flights. The mature and older hostesses at Air India know by now how to deal firmly with the obnoxious passengers. I can recount any number of incidents where the young hostess on a private airline flight would be saying ‘Sir, please sit down’, ‘please switch off the phone’ or ‘please stow your hand bag’ but to no effect. On a recent flight, the young hostess of a private airline told the parents of a toddler to keep away from the aisle, it was to no effect. She finally ran out of patience and firmly told the parents to do as advised in their own interest. At Delhi I found her standing silently in a corner, the senior hostess apologising while the parents fretted and fumed at the ‘ill treatment”.  I actually wanted to compliment the young girl for having done her duty. I have noticed sundry businessmen and executives start to threaten cabin crew immediately if advised to switch off phones, I can only wonder at the sheer helplessness exhibited by the crew. On a private airline flight a middle aged guy troubled the air hostesses and tested them to their limit. He was standing up, insisting on using the bathroom when the aircraft was to take off, the young girls were at their wits end, requesting and pleading with him. He just carried on, finally it was our combined shouting as passengers which finally cowed him down. We simply said let him use the loo, its his head which will get a blow, he simply sat down.

On the contrary, while on a turbulence affected long haul flight of Air India, as usual the odd passenger started getting up or moving around, a curt shout from the air hostess, ‘Sir sit down’,  was enough to send him scurrying to his seat. On another Air India flight, a group of passengers would not sit down inspite of repeated warnings, the senior hostess simply said loudly and clearly that security men would be waiting at the airport for them, the behaviour improved as if by magic. Children uniformly behave better on Air India flights, on a private airline flight to Srinagar I saw kids jumping from one seat to another just after take off. The air hostesses just sat mum and only smiled and tried to ignore the chaos, this would never happen on an Air India flight.   I have seen guys press the bell for water and just smile leeringly at the hostess on some flights, well one Air India hostess simply switched off the bell, sweetly and firmly said no more water and if you ring now, well I have no option but to report it. So on balance it’s a trade off. A trade off I would prefer. 

The Air India planes I have flown on frequently are clean, the newspapers stacked up, the service satisfactory, the  same if not better than in the private airlines, plus they serve you water and snacks, on private airlines now even water is passed out as a favour in the tiniest of cups. But perception as I said tailors reality. At one airport an Air India plane was parked and passing by staffers of a low cost airline said loudly, its government owned, so they will park it leisurely and take their time, our flight just flew in and shall be away again soon. I watched passengers waiting for the Air India flight guffaw in agreement and nod along and sort of feel they were on the wrong flight !.  As for the ground staff, they are quite keen to work, the levels of commitment for pushing in passengers arriving late has been seen by me at many airports. Yet a young girl in a tailored uniform  saying “yes sir may I help you” seems to carry more value to most passengers rather than a lady from Air India in a well draped sari. As a friend said, the lounges of Air India need improvement and better budgeting, but overall he found his flight smooth and as comfortable as that of rival airlines.

Perhaps Air India can improve fitness levels of its cabin crew. Perhaps it can motivate its staff to chat less on long haul flights. Perhaps it can budget swiftly for better infrastructure and lounges. Perhaps the young girl I talked about can also understand that in a developing country security of service and tenure is important and hence the staff on Air India serve longer with court approvals. On private airlines, ask the young girls and men about their job conditions, they are on tenterhooks about job security. Remember the visuals of the  flight crew from Jet Airways demonstrating emotionally on the streets when they were laid off. Or what about a low cost airlines decision to reduce men as stewards and use more women as they were lighter, how much can you really save, do the math, its ridiculous. Pertinently, what the jobs many of the young stewards would lose and what kind of jobs would they be able to obtain on being shunted out. Yet the media wrote about it as though it was a revolutionary idea. As to the NRI, well many NRIs consider themselves above their station when amongst actual Indians, more on this in later articles. The NRIs seem to forget the chaos due to strikes which occur even in the west and the flight cancellations due to bad weather conditions.

Its actually easy and fashionable to run down the government and everything it does, including its corporations. But no one dared take on Mallya when Kingfisher was mismanaged and closed. When the issue of corporate owners masquerading as mangers are concerned, its obviously the power of high powered public relations and threat of highly paid lawyers which tailors reality. Observe the business papers and business glossies, until a corporate scandal blows up, the executives and owners are heroes and super efficient, even after a scandal blows up the wording is always and consistently circumspect, but its fair game on the government or government owned front. I am not defending corruption but the corporate shenanigans are always dealt with very carefully.   Investing in image building does pay rich dividends.    

Air India has its faults and weaknesses, nobody can deny them. But the degree of criticism it attracts seems to suggest a case of perception tailoring reality. Its time we acknowledge this fact.

(I have no linkage with Air India but felt its unfair to target one airline)  

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