Air India

Kingfisher Red has stopped serving the Mumbai-Raipur route, which meant I had to fly Air India this time around. Not that I flew AI for the first time, but I was eager to fly it for a long time.

Whenever AI gets a mention in any discussion, one thing which never fails to pop up is how ‘ugly’ their air hostesses are. How those ‘fat’ ladies do not take care of the travelers and sometimes are even ‘rude’ to them. I, beg to differ.

First of all, the hostesses are not ugly. I agree that they are not sexy (and enticing!) as their Kingfisher and Jet counterparts, but beauty is beyond exhibiting skin in red or blue minis. Draped sarees, large red bindis smeared on foreheads and nicely braided hair – they all epitomize the Indian culture, and I believe that’s beautiful.

Secondly, many a times, the hostesses don’t behave in a way which most of the travelers think they ‘ought to be’. But have we ever tried to analyze what’s going on. Consider the situation from the hostess’ perspective. A traveler enters the aircraft and gives you a weird look (Oh my god, where have I come, those KF girls were so pretty) – his face says it all. Then onboard, he ‘orders’ you for the things he need, the way he is accustomed to doing it in other carriers. The difference here is that you are not like 20-22 year olds starting their careers; you are 42, serving for at least 15 years and expect some sensible behavior from the travelers.

I am no less ordinary. I am not against short clothes and I also like flying in KF, being served onboard by attractive women. However, I feel great about the fact that there is at least one airline which proudly upholds our culture. And it’s a thing which needs to be acknowledged by all.