----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 10:08
AM
Subject: [Assam] Indians are unruly
passengers - TOI
Though it is difficult to generalize, I have often found this to be true,
at least in many instances. Many passengers treat the plane are their
ancestral property.
One of the biggest complaints I have is of the condition of the restrooms
after about 10 minutes into flight.
My experience with India bound flights (specially Air India), is the
utter disregard for cleanliness of restrooms during long flights. The
restrooms are usually strewn with toilet paper, are wet, stenchy and
unflushed.
But I hear, its is the same situation with PIA and Bangladesh Biman. One
can hear stewardesses being yelled at as 'ai mem sahib, mero ko khanna
naih diya abhi thak' (translated roughly - ai lady (who speaks Ingrazi), why
haven't you given me any food yet)).
But this is not just on flights. Last evening, we went out to a
recommended restaurant called 'Mayuri' for a quiet evening. To our dismay, it
was one of the noisiest Desi restaurant ever. As our luck would have it, there
was a birthday bash in the 'party room' - loud, lousy music, and a compere
shouting at the top of his voice in a bad desi accent topped it off.
In the restaurant dining area, desi kids (those precious kids) were
running all over the place, while their doting parents assumed that the rest
of the diners would obviously be so gratified if the brats kept coming at
you. There was one guy, with a huge (proud) smile on his face, watching his
bratty kid visit all the tables. Add all this to the usually high decibel
level when desis gather around, and you can kiss you quiet evening goodbye.
So, I thought, well, might as well make my pilgrimage to the restroom - but
the Gods wern't kind - should've known - it was a desi restaurant, why on
earth would the restroom be clean - it defies logic? This restroom was worse
than the one in an Air India flight.
Most desi restaurants in the Houston are loud and garish. It is quite
possible that desis equate loud, noisy places as 'good, cheap,
food' - ambience be damned.
It is possible, though, I was just having a lousy evening to begin
with:-)
--Ram
______________________
MUMBAI: While the debate rages on whether the 12 Indian detained by the
Dutch police on Wednesday were victims of racial profiling, flight attendants
feel Indian passengers habitually ignore instructions of the cabin crew while
on board.
An Indian Airlines attendant who flies on the
Kolkata-Bangkok sector says, "These so-called educated passengers do not
switch off their cell phones when they are asked to do so, and still make
calls when the plane is ready for take off or is landing. Before the plane
halts, they jump up from their seats and open the baggage. They ignore the
'seat belt on' signs. It's really tiring to attend to such passengers."
Referring to the North West Airlines flight in which the Indian
passengers apparently refused to follow instructions of the crew, the
attendant said, "If we were to follow such strict rules in India, then every
flight would have to make emergency landing."
Unlike the NorthWest
Airlines crew, emergency landings are frowned upon in India. The duty of the
cabin crew to keep an eagle eye on passenger's behaviour is almost taken for
granted.
Explaining the predicament, an Airhostess says, "Even if we
are forced to enforce the rules because of such passengers, we are not
supposed to leave our seats until we are instructed by the captain."
According to cabin crews, first-time flyers and couriers are the ones
who are mostly to blame. "As these passengers fly frequently, they are often
upgraded to the better section under the frequent-flyer programme. They spend
the duration of the flight moving up and down the plane to be with colleagues
in the Economy Class which causes a lot of confusion inside the aircraft,"
feels one of the cabin crews.
Crew members also complain about passengers behaving badly after a couple
of drinks on sectors like Bangkok, which have a free-bar service.
An
NRI who travelled by North West from Amsterdam to Mumbai earlier this year,
said though he thought the behaviour of the flight crew in this week's
incident "smacked of racial discrimination", Indian passengers often behaved
inappropriately.
He recalled an earlier flight in which on landing at
the Mumbai airport, even before the 'seat belt on' sign was put up, most
Indian passengers had unbuckled their belts and sprung from their seats.
"Their cell phones had begun to ring when they were supposed to keep them
switched off. Only after the airhostess sternly told them that no one would be
allowed to get down did they obey her instructions."
In stark
contrast, an airhostess who flies in the international sector, says,
"Foreigners and NRIs are totally different in international airways. They even
ask for permission to listen to music on their personal electronic devices. In
fact, we might be losing some good travellers. We have come across passengers
who have appreciated our services but have told us they would never to fly our
airline because of unruly co-passengers who are a nuisance."
Also, due
to intense competition, airlines often have to put up with badly behaved
passengers. An airline pilot can offload an unruly passenger, but he refrains
from doing so because a rival pilot may not take similar action.
However, say flight attendants, if all airlines begin to take strict
action against disobedient passengers, it would go a long way in creating
better flying conditions. They suggest the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the
Directorate General of Civil Aviation should consider such a proposal.
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