Truly Indian? Air India to only offer veg meals on domestic flights
The national carrier took the decision to ''cut wastage and cost''
(Web Desk) - Air India has made a decision to stop serving non-vegetarian meals in its economy class on all domestic flights.
According to The Hindu, the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India Ashwani Lohani confirmed the decision when stating “We have decided to serve vegetarian meals in our economy class seats on domestic flights.”
The national carrier cited several reasons for arriving to this decision. Firstly, the airline claimed that the popularity of vegetarian food among passengers was increasing and that, on several flights the staff had run out of vegetarian meals which had led to complaints from the passengers.
Air India also said that serving only vegetarian meals would completely end the possibility of a non-vegetarian meal going to someone who had ordered vegetarian, an occurrence that had happened several times in the past.
However, the most important factor in the decision may have been money. Air India is seen by many as an ailing airline and according to a senior official, the switch from vegetarian to non-vegetarian meals would save the airline more than Rs 8 crore annually. This is also being seen as a major saving considering the airline spends Rs 400 crore on catering on its domestic and international flights every year, according to the report that cites an Air India executive.
While the airline’s verdict may make travelling for vegetarians more confortable not all are happy with the decision. Mahesh Y Reddy, secretary-general of Air Passengers Association of India said that a large airline such as Air India should not have taken such a decision and that even “a low-cost carrier gives passengers their food options.” He also said that if Air India wanted to take such a step it should have conducted a passenger survey to make sure whether people wanted such a verdict or not and that the airline should immediately withdraw the decision.
The decision will only have an impact of passengers travelling on economy class as non-vegetarian meals would continue to be served in business and executive classes on domestic flights.
This is not the first time that Air India has taken such a step. Last year the airline took a similar decision when it ceased serving non-vegetarian food to its economy-class passengers on flights that lasted up to 90 minutes.
