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Journalism of Courage
When you travel by a flight, you notice how the cabin crew is dressed impeccably in formals and the women are wearing heels. However, in a welcome change, Akasa Air, a low-cost carrier backed by the late stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, went for comfort first as they designated sneakers instead of heels for their crew uniform. A LinkedIn user recently shared a photo of a cabin crew member of Akasa Air in “comfortable attire”.
Diksha Mishra, from Bengaluru, shared on LinkedIn how she took an Akasa Air flight and was “surprised but really happy to see a well-deserved change”. Sharing a photo of a cabin crew member, she wrote, “Attached is a picture showing how comfortable the air hostess is in her new uniform. No more killer heels to run the services. Absolute comfort and I am sure it was long pending for these humans. Congratulations Akasa Air on breaking the norms. Good luck for your operations in aviation industry.”
Akasa Air reacted to the post and wrote, “Thank you so much, Diksha! One of our core values is comfort. We believe that providing outstanding service requires a high level of comfort. We look forward to welcoming you on board soon.”
“A great example of good leadership. A company that makes their employees comfortable can ensure that they will make their customers comfortable,” commented a user.
“What I love about this approach, it doesn’t objectify women. I always felt, service was needed in Airline than the beauty or objectification motto which was undue. Whoever thought of women to serve passengers in airline have to look like fashion models was definitely too patriarchal,” said another.
Akasa Air had unveiled the crew uniform in July last year. The company said it is the first Indian airline to have introduced custom trousers and jackets, with their fabric specially made for Akasa Air (using recycled polyester fabric which is made from pet bottle plastic salvaged from marine waste) and comfortable sneakers for its airline in-flight crew keeping in mind ergonomics, aesthetics and comfort.
