“A buffet is not a takeaway” was the title of the memo that Air India officials sent to international crew earlier this week after Marriott’s Renaissance London Heathrow called out Air India crews for filling their lunch boxes with food from the buffet according to the Times of India.
“We have received an unfortunate email from the management of hotel in London stating that some AI crew members regularly come down for breakfast with empty boxes into which they fill food items from the buffet, presumably to eat later.”
The airline warned that disciplinary action would be taken if the reports from the hotel continue:
“This may include, not being scheduled on international sectors, as we have no desire to allow the reputation of Air India to be tarnished by a handful of such individuals.”
Crew members spoke to the Times of India and said taking food is sometimes necessary due to short layovers at LHR which force members to choose between sleep and eating. Layover allowances have also been reduced and would not cover local restaurants or room service.
“We land in London either at 7.30am or 6.30pm. We are dead tired by then as it’s 14-15 hours from the time we have left home. So we just want to crash. Unlike earlier when the layover was 2 days, it’s now only 26 hours and so we have to catch up on sleep before the next flight.”
“It’s the worst for cabin crew who have been taken on contract as they are paid 60% less than the regular crew. The layover allowance is meagre and ranges from $600-1200 per month during which time we do at least ten layovers.”
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7 comments
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I personally think that anything not nailed down is fair game for the taking.
It’s ONLY 26 hours? there’s many of us that work 14-15 hour shifts and go home to eat and sleep and up in less than 10 hours. I think 26 hours is very generous. Additionally at least $600 for 10 layovers? That’s an extra $60 per day to eat. Those poor souls that can’t eat on $60 per day…..
When they say contract workers are paid less, that translates to the meal allowance being considered a source of supplemental income. Assuming they eat more from one buffet sitting, they take home the unspent meal allowance and make up for the pay deficit.
Air India crew was wrong for boxing buffet food. Yet, it also not as egregious as those wasting food.
It does not sound like Marriot shamed anybody. It seems to be that they sent a discreet message to the department that books the rooms.
I had a similar experience, pesonally being berated at a breakfast buffet in the Sheraton Tel Aviv years ago. I am not a pig nor a boor. I had unusual dietary issues which limited my intake of food early in the day combined with lactose intolerance. The buffet was thus very limited in options that I could consider. (Breakfast buffets can not combine meat and dairy because of reliious concerns.)
I was found to be taking two or three mini danishes in a napkin and publically berated. I can assure you that at that point I was doing 40 to 50 nights a year ar Sheratons alone and all on my dime.
The Sheraton Tel Aviv never saw another dime of mine.
Compare that to the next Hotal we went to in Jerusalem. They had a Friday night buffet. My 2 year old daughter wanted to eat strawberrys that were garnishing the buffet. I asked if they had been washed and they loudly stated not to take. I was a bit upset untill a platter of fresh strawberrys arrived at our table and was placed in front of my daughter. The platter was too much to finish and they TOLD us to take it to our room.