The golden era of air travel: Air India's food service of the 1970s-80s
By Shirin Mehrotra
“I still remember being served a leg of lamb on the flight which was sliced and plated right at the table. There was caviar too. I never ate it but saw my parents enjoying it”, says Debasish Chakraverty while reminiscing about the glorious days of Air India and its inflight service. The Mumbai-based financial investor flew Air India as a kid in the late 1970s-early 1980s. His father, Captain DM Chakraverty was one of the first few pilots to join Air India when it bought its first Boeing 747 aka the “Jumbo Jet”. “There were silver trolleys and the bar in the lounge section had all sorts of magazines and comics”, exclaims Chakraverty, who has a personal collection of over 1,000 photographs showing the golden era of Indian aviation.
It feels surreal to imagine that air travel was a luxurious and glamorous experience at one point, especially for an Indian airline at a time when the country wasn’t economically stable. But Air India, born as Tata Airlines in 1932 before it was nationalised by the then government, had all the elements of a world-class airline that offered a grand experience up in the air. Imagine silverware, champagne, world-class cocktails and a five-course menu that included dishes like shrimp cocktail, fillet mignon modern, grilled fish with caper and mustard sauce, a whole lobster, and tiramisu. Everything was served on plates, right on the seat, unlike the pre-packed boxes we have today. “It [service] was a long procedure. First, the appetizers were served with the drinks, then we used to take the soup orders; then entrée, dessert, and fruits and cheese in the end”, says Mangala Alexander, who joined Air India as a flight attendant in 1975, “It was a tiring job too. In the economy class, we used to carry liquor bottles, glasses, and ice bucket in a tray which was quite heavy”, she adds.
JRD Tata, the founder of the airline was a gourmand himself and was personally invested in every little detail, right from the menu design to the uniforms. “JRD’s wife would constantly tell him to sit quietly during their flights because he wanted to do everything”, says Alexander. “He never liked the white nail paint we wore”, she chuckles.
The artwork for the menu was created by various artists using cultural motifs from different parts of the country. A bar menu from 1971, painted by AA Raiba was inspired from Mirza Ghalib’s poetry, the English translation of which was inscribed on the menu. Even the glasses, coasters, and inflight reading material were custom-made to represent Indianness.
The Boeing 747 had two levels; the upper level was a three-storey high lounge with seating space for 15. The lounge was furnished with a velvet turquoise-blue carpet, a golden-yellow round settee in the centre, a golden-hued couch and flush seats. The Maharajah Lounge was connected to the main cabin through a spiral staircase. The walls of the lounge had murals depicting the seventh-century frescos of Ajanta and scenes from Jataka tales. The costumes of the air hostess in the lounge were in-sync with the décor. They wore a plum-coloured ghaghra, an over jacket with a bright orange bandhani choli and an odhani along with old silver jewellery and trinkets. “The flying experience back then can be best described as the cultural ambassador of India in the sky”, says Piyush Khaitan, Bengaluru-based philatelist who has been building an online archive of his personal collection of Air India memorabilia.
The lounge had a bar too, stocked with a selection of Indian as well as international wines put together by the wine experts from France. The Indian menu – an aspect that the airline took pride in – was designed by the well-known food columnist and restaurateur Jiggs Kalra and included dishes like keerai wada, kachcha kela nu kalwa, turia patra nu shaak, and Awadhi murg korma.
The nature of the airlines started to change in post-liberalisation India, especially when flying became more of a necessity than a luxury. The lounge was gone, leg room reduced, and pre-plated and boxed meals took over the on-the-spot plating and the menu became less gourmet and more functional. A few years ago, Air India also made a decision to stop serving non-vegetarian meals in economy class on its domestic flights to reduce wastage and costs.
With Air India going back to the Tata Group after being a government entity for 69 years, there’s an effort to restore some of its old legacy, especially when it comes to food. Truffle oil, which is considered the new-age gourmet ingredient, has found its way on the menu along with Emmenthal, bocconcini, and single-origin chocolate slices. The newly launched menu on domestic and international flights has a special focus on health and includes vegan options for all dishes mainly for the business class. There are interesting combinations like Andhra kothmir kodi (chicken in coriander curry) with lemon rice and tomato dal pappu, Amritsari chana masala with jeera rice and achari aloo panch phoron, jackfruit biryani, Penang curry and even khow suey (for Business class) which will be assembled and served on the flight.
Keeping up with the current trend and as a nod to 2023 being the International Year of Millets, the menu has millet-based noodles and pearl millet salad. There’s more focus on environmental sustainability in terms of reducing plastic usage as well as sourcing ingredients. “We don’t fly a lot of ingredients around so everything is sourced locally, except for the salmon on the menu which we’re trying to replace with a locally available sole fish”, says Air India’s executive chef Abhijit Berde. For the business class, Berde wants to return to some of the old Air India traditions with plans to serve plated desserts.
Shirin is an independent food writer, researcher and content & communication strategist currently based in Delhi
The views expressed are personal