Air India, the country's national carrier, is largely innocent of customer service - unless it's a politician who's traveling, in which case, the VIP is often spotted being escorted by an eager retinue of staff.
Stop that, the airline's chief has said. In a letter sent to nearly 20,000 staffers yesterday, Ashwani Lohani has said "Emphasis in the organization should be on work and work alone." Mr Lohani has also warned "no bouquets" should be presented to him when he visits Air India offices and only "minimal officials should receive or see me off at airports." Perhaps at Air India it's too radical to suggest reception teams be done away with all together.
Mr Lohani, who took over Air India in October last year, says "petty courtesies" need to be eliminated from the work culture of a state-run behemoth that has doggedly resisted multiple attempts at a turnaround.
The 85-year-old state-owned airline is unprofitable, overstaffed and losing market share. India's aviation market may be the world's fastest growing, but it's dominated by younger, nimbler, low-cost rivals such as IndiGo and SpiceJet.
When he took over as Chairman last year, Mr Lohani 58, an engineer and tourism bureaucrat with no prior experience running an airline, described his job as "the ultimate challenge."
It's tough to see that as an exaggeration. Air India has an undiminished record of poor staff discipline, grumpy service and frequent delays. The airline's spend on its staff is far higher than competitors - a fifth of its revenue goes towards employee pay and benefits while rival Jet Airways spends around a tenth. The carrier also has a costly fleet and services several unprofitable routes.
Air India reportedly has Rs 50,000 crore in debt, and annual interest costs topping $600 million (around Rs 4,000 crore).
Here's Mr Lohani's letter to staffers:
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