Discrimination charge: travel agents write to Air France

While she asked all the ‘whites’ for their preference,she conveniently ignored this lady. Only when the lady raised a hue and cry that she had paid as much as the others for the tickets did the airhostess ask her,” added Sundaram.

“Earlier Indians used to be scared to speak out. I’ve had this experience on a flight when the airhostess was smiling at everybody but stopped smiling when she looke at me,” said Sundaram.

“Therefore when we read about yesterday’s incident,we wrote a letter to the carrier seeking an explanation. It looks like a case of racial discrimination,” she added.

However,the question that remains is are Indians still keen to travel European carriers despite the opening up of the Indian skies and the plethora of choices available to them in terms of international connectivity. “There has definitely been a shift,” saidSundaram. “Earlier the psychology of Indians was that foreign airlines provide better service but now even the Air India Mumbai-NY flight is good,” she said.

“I think it would not be very difficult to shift to other carriers as a lot of European carriers have a history of such conduct,” said Naren Kachru,an IBM engineer who is a frequent flier and was one of the passengers on the Air France flight. “In fact I had a word with our agent and asked him that our company should not give any more business to Air France,” he said. Kachru said that the next time he flies a domestic carrier will be his probable choice.

According to Sundaram,even the Gulf-based carriers which operate out of their Doha and Abu Dhabi hubs are a good option as they have upgraded considerably and even provide for a great shopping experience. She further said that Indians pay among the highest prices for air tickets across the world and therefore this sort of behaviour by an airline was uncalled for.