The Hindu Business Line : Food for thought!

Over the years, the food quality on our domestic flights may have dwindled, but it is still way ahead of the meal service you get on the best of international carriers.

The largest number and percentage of complaints received by management at domestic airlines in India reportedly pertain to the food served on board.

As background, last year, between the two of us, we ate at least 208 documented meals on board various aircraft and airlines all over the world. Most of them were consumed by us without demur, as a sort of punishment that goes with the job. Except for a series of letters to a variety of airlines pertaining to the excess of gajar ka halwa, we did little else. We even forgave them for serving us re-heated rubberised chicken tikkas and seekh kababs for breakfast on the morning after delayed or cancelled flights due to the fog, with obviously carried over snacks.

Going by aircraft maintenance data on the IA website, per flight cycle (one take-off and one touch-down), their Airbus-320 aircraft (which are also used by them for longer international sectors) have an average of 90 min. aircraft hours and Boeing-737 about 50 minutes. Jet Airways and Sahara operate Boeing 737, so their averages should be about the same. No domestic flight exceeds three hours in duration.

Yet, it is not strange to be served a proper multi-course hot meal with beverages before and after, in economy, even on short sectors such as Delhi-Jaipur, or Hyderabad-Bangalore. One receives a quick high tea on knee-jerk sectors such as Mumbai-Pune or Ahmedabad-Vadodara. When flights are delayed, domestic airlines lay out a buffet spread on the ground as well as the original meal catered for on board.

Despite this, it seems people are not satisfied. Taste and preparation are the primary issues, as also the usual sulking and shouting when meals of choice are not available.

So we are spoilt silly as far as food is concerned by our domestic airlines, compared to much longer flights in North America or elsewhere. Those of us who remember the glorious days of private airlines such as Damania and East-West serving alcohol with breakfast might feel the food and beverage service has deteriorated. But it is still way ahead of the food service in international carriers lately.

So, it is easy to go about beating our domestic airlines on the head about food, but be assured that they could easily take on some of the international leaders. First hand experiences over the last month, we've seen Virgin Atlantic rationing water in Upper Class (first) and Premium (Business) and refusing a morning meal to passengers who slept through the dinner after a 10-p.m. take-off from Heathrow. British Airways made the unforgivable and cardinal mistake of running out of vegetarian options on the Delhi-London and London-Delhi sector and as for the pre-selected "high-fibre meal" choice, a stiff upper lip was all we got in return!

So fine, as Indians, we can't expect "them" to serve us Indian cuisine, right? Sandwiches would be fine, then?

Even on sandwiches, I have to admit that squashed lumps of white bread re-nomenclatured "bagels" seem to be the rule on international flights. That is because they are usually loaded in huge big plastic bags, and the ones at the bottom simply get compressed, while the ones on top get served up front. Have you, be truthful, ever been served a squashed sandwich on a domestic flight in India?

So, the next time you fly domestic, look at that piping hot rice and curry, with option on chappati... or fluffy idli/omlette... with slightly more loving eyes. After all, it is increasingly only in India that you get the appetising scent of fresh filter coffee and hot food on boarding.

Note: Carrying fresh fruit on board by passengers is not permitted because the security reasoning is that you and I may wrap it in a napkin and use it as a weapon. However, full uncut fruits such as apples, oranges and pears are happily served onboard domestic airlines of late by smiling cabin crew.

Problem with security checks?

The next largest number and percentage of complaints received lately pertain to security checks.

A few days ago, for an evening flight out of a non-metro domestic airport where everybody knows everybody and the staff are polite to the extreme, I was stuck behind an obnoxious and smelly man, claiming to be the Honorary Consul for a small European principality. He kept screaming throughout the boarding process, flight as well as on arrival, about the great National Insult to his little hole in the ground somewhere.

Just because a resolute and firm CISF officer stood his ground for a security check, refused to be bullied, and rightly so.

Here again, we need to appreciate that in India we have fairly strict regulations and instructions on what a security check is all about, and what is permitted and what is not. A redressal procedure is properly laid out. We have never yet been stuck at security check in India for over10 minutes. Sure, there are lacunae in the system, but for anybody travelling over the last few years, it is clearly visible that loopholes are being blocked.

But in the US, they give you legal justification to submit passenger to anything in the name of "search". Take your shoes off, drop your belt, random strip search in not so private rooms where people of both genders may be present, no access to legal help, no arguments or discussions, invalidation of travel documents... the list goes on. Any sort of retort is viewed as an attempt to disturb the peace or resisting due process of the law.

So the next time you get upset about not being allowed to carry food through a security route which might take less than five minutes, remember that it now takes an hour or more to clear security at Heathrow, in a very filthy environment with half-eaten food and paper cups strewn around. Or how you can simply lose sight of your hand-baggage including your wallet at Moscow. The list goes on.

Now for the latest!

Delhi-Gorakhpur-Lucknow-Allahabad-Kolkata. Not a very well-travelled route, but one that is lucky enough to get a first go at the latest airplane in Indian skies for domestic scheduled routes. Air Sahara, the smallest of the three scheduled domestic operators in India, has started operations with their new bird in the sky, VT-SAP, a 50-seater regional CRJ-200 jet (CRJ stands for Canadair Regional Jet).

Single class (economy) with 2x2 seating (like on the slower turbo-prop ATR-72 with Jet Airways and ATR-42 with Indian Airlines), these small but fast jets fly higher and offer a bigger seat pitch than on the standard 3x3 Boeing-737/Airbus-320 configurations. More than that, with both Air Sahara and Jet Airways looking at putting more of such aircraft on their routes soon, expect frequencies and routes in India to go up while capacities are utilised better.

Response can be sent to life@thehindu.co.in

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