KOCHI: It has been established countless times that the road to a person’s heart is through his or her stomach. And it seems the airline companies have finally understood this universal truth.
All the companies are scrambling their menu cards to provide their customers with the ultimate food experience as they fly towards their destinations. The cuisine being offered range from the oriental, continental etc to the local flavours.
Among the airlines, Kochi-headquartered Air India Express has gone the extra mile and are giving their passengers the choicest of Malabar food, mainly Malabari poratta and chicken curry from their customised ala carte.
Air India Express claims they are the only company in the country which serves complimentary snacks, both the veg and non-veg variety, in the domestic and international routes.
“We have added varieties like Malabar chicken, meen vattichathu, poratta and chicken to our lunch and dinner menus. These dishes can be ordered only online up to 24 hours prior to the departure of the flight. Bar snacks and starters such as chicken tangri kebab with mint chutney, chicken 65 and chicken nuggets with tomato ketchup rosemary chicken with caramelized onion in multi cereal roll and jeera rice served alongside butter paneer and aloo gobi with salad and gulab jamun are potential enough to tickle the taste buds of passengers,” said the spokesperson of the AIE.
AIE’s inclusion of non-vegetarian dishes in its menu assumes significance considering the fact that Air India, the parent company of AIE, had recently discontinued the supply of these dishes in the economy class its domestic flights as part of cost cutting. The national carrier had also been in news a couple of times for mixing up veg and non-veg orders.
According to a report tabled in the Parliament by the Civil Aviation Ministry officials, Air India had mixed up orders three times. Also, the airline had received as many as 44, 27 and 48 complaints in the last three years, regarding the quality of food and catering service. The multiple complaints forced the airline to take appropriate action against the caterer as per the contractual terms.
Cost cutting measures
Air India stopped serving non-vegetarian meals in the economy class of its domestic flights as part of cost cutting measures. It also launched various cost cutting measures like a change in menu, meal schedule, rationalisation of dry stores and ancillary items as per current trends.
The annual savings which are expected to be made from these measures is Rs 20 crore, said the officials while replying to a query. The annual savings from the discontinuation of non-vegetarian meals in the economy class of Air India domestic flights are expected to be around Rs 8 to Rs 10 crore, said Ministry. Apart from saving cost, it will reduce wastage, improve service and also prevent any chances of mix-ups.
This doesn’t mean the national carrier is dragging its feet in improvising the airline menu. The airline company has taken steps to improve its catering services by introducing new improved menu, doing away with food items not preferred by passengers, has began training chefs at its international stations on Indian cuisine, taking up passenger and crew feedbacks with the caterers aggressively and monitoring the quality or presentation of meal service closely and making surprise visits to the caterers’ often. Further, follow ups will be taken for rectifications if a deficiency in the caterer’s service is noticed, said officials.
Local flavours a hit
Around 95 per cent of air passengers from Kerala prefer to have local dishes onboard, said Gunasekaran Chandrasekaran, chief chef with Casino Air-caterers and Flight Services, Kochi.
Today airlines are putting more emphasis on including as many deshi dishes as possible in their menu. And there has been a good feedback regarding the local cuisine. “We have received orders from three major airlines to provide special Onam dishes for its flights to Kerala,” he said.
Though he refused to disclose the dishes since the airlines are planning the menu as a surprise for their passengers, a senior AIE officer said those flying with Air India Express will be greeted with a special Kerala sweet dish onboard the flight.
Experts associated with the flight kitchens also maintain there has been a considerable increase in foreigners who visit the state and nearly all of them prefer to savour the best of the local flavour.