Air India on Monday issued a circular to all its cabin and cockpit crew, directing them to say “Jai Hind” after every flight announcement, “with much fervour”. The directive is effective immediately, said the circular, which was issued by Director of Operations Amitabh Singh.
The directive comes just over two weeks after Ashwani Lohani took charge as the chairperson and managing director of the cash-strapped airline for a second time. Lohani had issued similar directives to pilots in 2016 as well during his first tenure.
The circular said that staff members in the flight should say “Jai Hind” after “a slight pause” following every announcement.
Unidentified officials told PTI that the advisory is a “reminder” that has been issued considering the “mood of the nation”. This is a possible reference to the February 14 terror attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, followed by the Indian Air Force’s strikes against a Jaish-e-Mohammad camp in Pakistan’s Balakot.
In 2016, Lohani had said: “The captain of a flight should often connect with passengers during the journey and, at the end of first address, using the words ‘Jai Hind’ would make a tremendous impact.”
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