If a media report is to be believed, Air-India has started the Star
Alliance last month with a whimper for the irate First and Business
Class wine drinking passengers being served wine in the plastic glasses
instead of proper stemware in the long range flights to Australia and
the US, which seems to be due to some logistics issues and will
hopefully be sorted out soon
Apparently this fiasco has happened due to reduction in the number of wine glasses carried in each flight since Air India joined the Star Alliance network on July 11 last month. According to the report in Mid Day, whereas each aircraft reportedly carried 108 glasses during the pre-Alliance period, the national carrier has been able to carry only 36 glasses each, due an increase in the glass size. The new glasses are bigger, sport the Air India logo and can hold 400ml of wine as against 150 ml earlier.
"Last month, a tender for 2000 glasses was floated and the same have been procured and since loaded on to long-haul flights," a crew member said. About 100 passengers have reportedly complained about the issue in the last week alone. However, Air-India is looking at the complaints according to the Minister of State, Civil Aviation. Being a national carrier owned 100% by the government, it is directly under the control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Although the CMD of Air India, Rohit Nandan has not commented on the issue, a senior executive of the airline has reportedly informed that originally, a single cart could consist of 6 drawers, each containing 18 small wine glasses. "With the bigger glasses, only 6 glasses per drawer are being loaded on board," he said. Crew members who had to face the irate passengers said the new glasses were better suited to serve lassi than wine.
Read news in full 07/08/14 Indian Wine Academy
Apparently this fiasco has happened due to reduction in the number of wine glasses carried in each flight since Air India joined the Star Alliance network on July 11 last month. According to the report in Mid Day, whereas each aircraft reportedly carried 108 glasses during the pre-Alliance period, the national carrier has been able to carry only 36 glasses each, due an increase in the glass size. The new glasses are bigger, sport the Air India logo and can hold 400ml of wine as against 150 ml earlier.
"Last month, a tender for 2000 glasses was floated and the same have been procured and since loaded on to long-haul flights," a crew member said. About 100 passengers have reportedly complained about the issue in the last week alone. However, Air-India is looking at the complaints according to the Minister of State, Civil Aviation. Being a national carrier owned 100% by the government, it is directly under the control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Although the CMD of Air India, Rohit Nandan has not commented on the issue, a senior executive of the airline has reportedly informed that originally, a single cart could consist of 6 drawers, each containing 18 small wine glasses. "With the bigger glasses, only 6 glasses per drawer are being loaded on board," he said. Crew members who had to face the irate passengers said the new glasses were better suited to serve lassi than wine.
Read news in full 07/08/14 Indian Wine Academy
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