(Photo | Liveandletsfly.com/Creative Commons)
A passenger’s recent social media post went viral. On an Indian airline flight, he asked for piping hot water to soothe a sore throat. The crew politely refused, citing policy. When he asked how tea was served, there were blank faces. Ironically, the same boiling water was acceptable when sold as tea. This reminds one of a foreign airline that abruptly banned cabin crew from using hot water bottles on long flights for safety reasons last December. After protests, the rule was withdrawn. Nothing shows the absurdity of rules like turning a cup of boiling water into a sky-high safety menace. Safety is important, but so are customer comfort and plain common sense.