Airline tells 'guzzling and gaffawing' cabin crew off for bad behaviour
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An airline has sent a stern message to its cabin crew telling them to behave themselves in mid-air, after a number of complaints were made about them guzzling passengers' meals and guffawing in the galley.
Complaints from first class passengers about the bad air behaviour of air stewards has prompted Air India to issue a circular telling staff how to eat and talk during flights, reports The Times of India.
According to the news outlet, which claims it has a copy of the memo, the airline confirmed that it had received complaints about the unruly behaviour of its cabin crew. Incidents cited included eating passengers' meals in full view of customers, talking and laughing loudly and and delaying response times to attend passengers' needs during flights.
The circular states that the crew must speak "softly" in the galley and "draw the curtain" while eating.
Earlier this year, Air India hit the headlines after a number of staff members were caught stealing alcohol and caviar from flights. One team member took 372 mini liquor bottles from an aircraft, and a catering officer was discovered with £233 worth of caviar from a chartered flight.
Like many airlines, the company has faced turbulent times recently. According to International Business Times , more than 600 staff have left the national carrier in the past three years.
And new rules which increase the number of flight duty time for pilots have also sparked tension between management and cabin staff.
But Air India isn't the only airline with cabin crew who have been reprimanded for their behaviour recently.
This week, two Ryanair stewards who tried to smuggle 8,000 duty free cigarettes into the UK were sacked.
And in July, A British Airways steward was dismissed after claims that he headbutted a colleague in an argument.
In June, a fllght attendant on an American airline hit the headlines after being filmed losing his temper over the tannoy, causing several passengers to refuse to fly with the attendant. And the same month, two Syrian air hostesses got into a fist fight, delaying their flight to Dubai.
Is it fair of Air India to reprimand it staff for eating and talking? Have you had a bad experience with a flight attendant? Tell us your stories below!
Mid-air meltdowns
- Yes, we have no pyjamas...<p> In August 2012, two passengers threw a wobbly because their airline didn't have any X-L sized pjyamas. Their Qantas flight was delayed as air stewards tried to pacify the pair but they were so indignant that they refused to fly and demanded to get off the plane. Quite right too. There's nothing worse than ill-fitting jim-jams at 30,000ft.</p>
- Get that screaming child off my plane!<p> A toddler meltdown led to an entire family being kicked off a flight from Boston to the Caribbean in March 2012. Collette Vieau's two-year old daughter Natalie started crying and refused to sit in her seat. Although the family eventually managed to strap her in, the JetBlue pilot decided it was unsafe to fly with her on board and the family had to disembark. As there were no more flights that evening, the family had to pay $2,000 for hotel accommodation and to rebook their flights...</p>
- The father and son who came to blows<p> A Thomas Cook flight from Manchester to the Canary Islands had to do a U-turn after a passenger became so agressive that he had to be pinned down by five people. The 50-year-old man, who appeared to have been drinking, apparently got into a violent argument with an elderly passenger - believed to be his father - and began swinging wild punches, witnesses said. The plane landed and the unruly passenger was immediately arrested.</p>
- What, no champagne?<p> In January 2012, a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Costa Rica had to be diverted because a couple from Germany reportedly refused to sit down unless they were given champagne. The pair, who were seated in first class, denied the incident, but Delta Airlines captain took the precaution of making a diversion to Florida, where they were removed from the flight.</p>
- The pilot who lost the plot<p> Even pilots have their moments, as we discovered from the JetBlue pilot who suffered a mid-air meltdown in March 2012 while in charge of a flight between New York and Las Vegas. Three hours into their flight, passengers were terrified when the heard him suddenly start banging doors and running around the aircraft yelling about terrorism, and screaming: 'We're all going down!". The pilot had to be wrestled to the floor by passengers and locked out of the cockpit, and an off-duty pilot who was on board helped the plane make an emergency landing. The Jetblue pilot was later found not guilty of interfering with a flight crew for reasons of insanity.</p>
- Why won't this door open?<p> In May 2011, terrified passengers on board an Easyjet plane had to overpower a British man who twice tried to open a cabin door mid-flight at 35,000ft between Krakow, Poland and Edinburgh. Witnesses said the the man lunged for the door handle but was quickly tackled by staff and fellow passengers as the aircraft's pilots were forced to land at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. </p>
- The streaker who got a bum reaction<p> In 2010, a flight from Omsk to Vladivostok was grounded after one of the passengers started running around the plane naked. or one and a half hours passengers of today’s Omsk-Vladivostok flight had to watch a naked passenger. The young man suddenly he jumped off his seat, quickly took all his clothes off, and started shouting and darting around the cabin,” Siberian transport police representatives said. The man was also taken to a clinic upon landing.</p>
- The stir-crazy stewardess<p> It's not just passengers who go a bit mental when they're on a plane. Back in March, one airline stewardess appeared to completely lose the plot when she started screaming about 9-11 and how the plane was going to crash. American Airlines flight 2332 from Dallas was taxiing along the runway when the attendant suddenly started screaming hysterically. Terrified passengers had to pin her down and the plane returned to base, where police arrested her, still kicking and screaming.</p>
- Switch that *@@!£$ing light off!<p> In July 2012, a passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight faced legal charges after he exploded into an expletive-ridden tirade against a woman in front of him - because she wouldn't turn off her reading light. The 50-year-old man, who was on a flight from Honolulu to Bellingham International Airport in Washington, threatened to keep kicking the back of her chair is she didn't turn off the light.</p>
- Lap dance, anyone?<p> In August 2011, passengers travelling to London from Moscow on a bmi flight got more than they bargained for when a drunk female passenger started performing erotic dances in the aisles. The Airbus had to return to Domodedovo half an hour after take off when the woman started "harrassing" passengers. The woman was subsequently removed from the flight and taken to hospital for medical tests. The airline said it was considered fining her for the delay...</p>
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