Tiffin fight fallout: Air India tells cabin crew to limit cockpit visits; pilots can't seek help for outside meals

NEW DELHI: Air India on Wednesday asked cabin crew and pilots to finalise meal scheduling, basically what the latter want and when, before operating flights and limit visits by the former to cockpit during flight for this reason. While restricting pilots from getting outside food, say a home-cooked meal, for consumption inflight is not possible, AI is contemplating asking them not to seek crew help in any way like heating up the meal for consuming the same. These moves come after a spat between a pilot and flight purser reportedly on the issue of washing a tiffin box that the captain had got from home when he finished his meal.

“Cabin crew is for the comfort and safety of passengers. We have asked for meal scheduling to be decided before flight so that accordingly the same can be served to pilots inflight. Also the number of visits by cabin crew to cockpits should be as per laid down norms and not more than that. Calling crew members time and again to cockpit for some reason or the other comes in way of passenger service,” said a senior official.



A senior cabin crew member said: “AI pilots often bring home tiffin boxes on board and ask crew to heat and serve that meal. There are often requests from pilots like asking crew to chop onion, roast almonds and cashews in honey and make cheese toasts and fruit salad. All this must stop as cabin crew are on board for passenger service and safety and are not personal cooks of pilots. On the other hand, pilots of private Indian airlines do not do this. Why so much drama in AI?”

These decision were taken after a captain and flight purser of a Bengaluru-Kolkata flight on Monday had a fight when the former reportedly asked the latter to rinse his tiffin. AI has grounded both the crew members and the airline chairman Ashwani Lohani has taken a very stern view of this fight.



Earlier this year, AI had barred its pilots from ordering special meals for themselves and asked them to take the regular meals ordered by the airline. Flight caterers had complained it was a regular practice to get special meal requests from AI pilots.



AI director (operations) captain Amitabh Singh had written a mail pilots this March saying: “It has been brought to (his) notice that flight crew are ordering special meal/s which is against rules. The only crew, who for medical reasons, may order for special meals, (that is) food recommended by doctor. (as per rules) ‘crew should adhere to the meal schedules laid down by the company and should not authorise meal uplift on their own’.”

“In light of the above, all cockpit crew (pilots) are instructed not to order special meals as and when operating a flight / staff on duty movement. GM-catering to take note of the same and issue necessary instructions to all dealing heads. GM-catering to liaise with office of ED-operations to get a list of pilots, who will be requiring special food for medical purposes only. ED-operations to get the above instructions uploaded on crew portal on priority,” captain Singh’s order had said.