As per an advisory issued by Amitabh Singh, Director Operations, Air India, “With immediate effect, all (crew) are required to announce ‘Jai Hind’ at the end of every announcement after a slight pause and much fervor.”
While former Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani had issued a similar directive to pilots in 2016, PTI quoted an official as saying that the current advisory was a reminder to the staff in line with the “mood of the nation”. Lohani, during his first stint as Air India chief, had issued a directive in May 2016, saying using the words ‘Jai Hind’ by the flight commander before takeoff would make a tremendous impact (on the passengers in case of delays). Besides, in his communication, he had also asked the staff to be “courteous and polite” to passengers and said wearing a smile would be a “good thing”.
Last month, the Central government called back Lohani from retirement to head the cash-strapped national carrier as chairman and managing director for a second time within two years.