'Little surprise', tweets Mehbooba Mufti after Air India directs its staff to say Jai Hind

New Delhi, Mar 05: Reacting to Air India asking its crew to say 'Jai Hind' after every flight announcement Former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti n a tweet has affixed this move with the General Elections.

Taking to Twitter, Mufti said,''Little surprise that with General Elections around the corner, the josh of patriotism hasn't even spared the skies."

Air India crew will have to say "Jai Hind" after every flight announcement "with much fervour", said an official advisory of the national carrier on Monday.

"With immediate effect, all (crew) are required to announce 'Jai Hind' at the end of every announcement after a slight pause and much fervour," stated the advisory issued by Amitabh Singh, Director Operations, Air India.

The advisory has been marked to all crew members of the cash-strapped carrier.

During his first stint as Air India's Chairman and Managing Director, Ashwani Lohani had issued a similar direction to pilots in May 2016.

According to officials, the current advisory is a "reminder" to the staff, in line with the "mood of the nation".

"The captain of a flight should often connect with passengers during the journey and, at the end of first address, using the words 'Jai Hind' would make a tremendous impact," Lohani said in a communication to his staff in May 2016.

Besides, Lohani in his communication had also asked the staff to be "courteous and polite" to passengers and said wearing a smile would be a "good thing".

Lohani had said, "The cabin crew should greet the passengers while emplaning and deplaning with a 'namaskar' as was the tradition. A smile on the face and conversing sweetly and politely without an iota of irritation would be a good thing."