Secret Traveller by Jamal Shaikh: The Maharaja’s new clothes

Are Air India’s new fashion and grooming rules for flight attendants regressive, or a first step towards a more efficient airline?

On an Air India flight from New York to Delhi a few years ago, a motherly flight attendant tucked me into my seat the way only an older Indian lady can. The same “air hostess” had kindly moved me from my original seat, 8K, in the first row in Business Class, to 14K in the aft cabin, with an empty seat next to me.

The iconic Air India Maharaja first appeared in 1946, and was invented by Air India’s Commercial Director, Bobby Kooka, and artist Umesh Rao, from J Walter Thompson in Mumbai

An Air India featuring Zeenat Aman

An ad for Air India which used the iconic tagline ‘Air India Has Something Money Can’t Buy’

A file picture of AI cabin crew members

Humour was a tool often used in early ads of Air India