Air India to Discontinue Non-Vegetarian Food, Tea, and Coffee on Domestic Flights

Air India has announced that from January 1, 2016, it will discontinue serving non-vegetarian food, tea, and coffee on its economy class flights up to 90 minutes duration. The airline has decided to replace these items with "all vegetarian" hot meals. This decision affects flights to most non-metro routes, which fall under the 61- to 90-minute duration category. According to a travel industry expert, this decision is unilateral and should have been preceded by a passenger survey, which is an industry practice. Air India has defended the move, stating that it has upgraded the meals, replacing sandwiches and cakes with hot meals.

Key Takeaways:

• Air India will discontinue serving non-vegetarian food, tea, and coffee on its economy class flights up to 90 minutes duration from January 1, 2016.
• The airline will replace these items with "all vegetarian" hot meals, which will be served on flights to most non-metro routes.
• The decision affects flights with durations between 61 and 90 minutes, catering to approximately 150 passengers on board and two crew members.
• Air India has defended this decision by stating that it has upgraded the meals, replacing sandwiches and cakes with hot meals.
• The airline has flown 1.18 million passengers with a market share of 16.2 percent in the previous month.
• Travel industry expert Rajji Rai believes that Air India should have carried out a passenger survey before making this decision.

Statistics:

• 1.18 million passengers flew with Air India in the previous month.
• 16.2 percent is the market share of Air India.
• 150 passengers are typically on board for flights up to 90 minutes duration.
• 2 crew members typically serve the passengers on these flights.

Sources:

• "Air India to discontinue non-vegetarian food, tea and coffee on domestic flights." The Northlines, distributed by Contify.com (no date mentioned)