Air India has also issued a set of ‘dos and don’ts’ when it comes to denial of service. (Represent)
New Delhi:
In light of recent incidents of unruly passenger behavior, Air India has revised its in-flight alcoholic beverage policy, wherein cabin crew are asked to tactfully refuse to serve additional drinks. Drink alcohol if needed.
The Tata Group-owned airline has been fined by the DGCA over the past few days in connection with unruly passenger behavior on two international flights.
Under the revised policy enacted on January 19, guests are not allowed to drink alcohol unless served by the crew, and crew must take care to identify guests who may be drinking their own alcohol.
“Serving alcoholic beverages must be done in a reasonable and safe manner. This includes tactfully refusing (then) serving alcohol to guests,” according to the policy.
Air India has also issued a set of ‘dos and don’ts’ when it comes to denial of service.
These require the crew to be polite and avoid value judgments and to use tact to politely inform guests that you will not be serving them any more alcohol.
As a policy, “don’t call guests ‘drunk’ – warn them politely that their behavior is unacceptable” and don’t persuade them to have ‘one last drink’ after making a statement that they have had enough.
“Don’t raise your voice. If they raise your voice, lower yours… don’t refuse, act while the guest still has a reason,” the airline said in its policy.
Furthermore, it told the crew that they shouldn’t think the matter was over because you addressed it verbally. “The management of excessively intoxicated customers must be done in an assertive and respectful manner,” it added.
Although serving alcoholic beverages to guests is a practice that has been around for many years, the airline said, however, there is a difference between drinking for pleasure and becoming intoxicated by drinking.
“Air India empowers its cabin crew to refuse to board/refuse to serve alcohol or to remove any undrinkable alcohol that a guest is drinking on their own and when there are reasonable grounds to believe that the airline’s ability to passengers are impaired by alcohol to a level that could be hazardous to the aircraft, the occupants of the aircraft (crew or guests), or the politician,” the policy says.
The serving of alcoholic beverages must be done in a reasonable and safe manner. This includes tactfully refusing (further) serving alcohol to guests, the airline said.
Guests are not allowed to drink alcohol unless served by crew, and it is important for cabin crew to pay attention to identifying guests who may be drinking their own alcohol, it added.
In a statement, an Air India spokesperson said the airline had reviewed the existing in-flight alcoholic beverage policy, consulted other airlines’ practices and input from the Restaurant Association’s guidelines. United States of America.
“These are largely in line with Air India’s existing practice, although some adjustments have been made for greater clarity and the NRA’s Traffic Lights system has been introduced to help crews recognize and manage possible cases of intoxication.
A spokesperson said: “The new policy has now been issued to cabin crew and incorporated into the training programme. Air India remains committed to ensuring the safety and health of our passengers and crew. , including but not limited to responsible alcohol serving”.
Air India has said that the NRA’s Traffic Light system must be used to recognize and manage possible intoxication. Under this system, observations of guest behavior can then be classified as green, yellow, or red.
“The cabin crew is responsible for monitoring guests for signs of excessive intoxication and should observe the guest’s speech, coordination, balance and behavior.
“Observes of guest behavior can then be classified as green, yellow or red,” it added.
Carriers have emphasized that it is important to distinguish behavior that may simply be a personality trait of a person, such as talking or laughing louder, from behavior that may be the result of a cultural background. rather than unruly behavior. It is best to handle an anxious, upset, or rude customer using conflict management techniques to defuse and avoid escalation.
On the ground, the airline said it was necessary to consider when boarding the plane if any passengers showed signs of slurred speech, staggered gait, profanity, or threatening behavior. In case of any such symptoms, the same should be reported to the Cabin Supervisor/Navigation Commander.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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