Despite its embarrassment of riches in the form of resplendent foodstuffs, a buffet is not for take away. It's there to prove to yourself that there is indeed room for another plate.
The Times of India (h/t Mashable) reports Air India flight attendants have received a rather public admonishment after a London hotel accused a group of packing buffet food into their respective lunch boxes.
Mashable states the relatively benign buffet packing took place at the Heathrow adjacent Hotel Renaissance London.
Rather than address the problem by looking at its root causes, The Times of India reports an airline assistant general manager (AGM) gave staff quite the bashing.
The letter states: "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 letter continues: "we are aware that this could be a very small minority indulging in such a behavior."
As for punishment, "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."
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This isn't the kind of public embarrassment that buffets were meant to create. That belongs solely to the feeling you have when you realize the people one booth over have noticed you go up for thirds.
In any case, the Times of India spoke with someone merely described as a senior cabin member. The anonymous source points to exhausting conditions that would lead to such a practice as taking food from a buffet to go.
This person states: "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. Even so, only a couple of us would be bringing boxes to fill and eat later. Most don't do that. 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 meager and ranges from $600-1200 per month during which time we do at least ten layovers."
As for room service: "It comes with a service charge of 10 pounds so as to discourage people from ordering meals in their room. So one has to dress up and go to the restaurant downstairs for a meal. The menu is limited to sandwiches and such things so one is not inclined to have that lunch/dinner every time one lands there. Since the hotel is located close to Heathrow airport, one has to take the long trip to the city to have a proper meal."
Add that all up and you can see why crew have taken to nabbing some food from the buffet before they head off to the next leg of their journey. Rather than take a closer look at conditions, a letter figuratively slapping wrists was sent out.
As for the letter, an airline spokesperson states: "Initially this letter appears to be fake because an AGM-grade officer is not authorized to send a circular that has pan India implications. We are investigating the issue."
While an investigation into the matter goes on, employees are speaking out. The Times of India explains that this manager may have indeed sent out this admonishment and done so despite being fairly new at their post.
The report reads: "But cabin crew members of AI confirmed that they had received such a letter. They added that the AGM concerned was promoted to the said post only 15 days ago."
Hopefully, Air India discovers a way to ensure its staff is fed and well rested. Thankfully, however, most of us don't have to go through the public shame of a buffet bender.
The sneakier of us wait until nobody is looking to take an extra muffin or two.
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