Vistara Offers Veg Food as 'Hindu Meal' and Non-veg Food as 'Muslim Meal', Ceo Explains Why

The airline mostly offers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food on its flights. However, Vistara Airlines labels its vegetarian meals as ‘Hindu meals’ and its non-vegetarian meals as ‘Muslim meals,’ which has sparked public outrage.

The woman passenger, Aarti Tikoo Singh, shared a post, questioning why Vistara labels vegetarian meals as ‘Hindu meals’ and chicken meals as ‘Muslim meals’. 

The passenger was offended, saying, “Who told you that all Hindus are vegetarian and all Muslims are non-vegetarian? Why are you forcing people to eat what they don’t want to eat? Who gave you the authority to do this?”

The post has gone viral on social media, attracting widespread criticism. Many users are outraged by the labels, with former head of R&AW and current Adviser at ORF, Vikram Sood, calling them “absurd and dangerous descriptions.” Another user has urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to intervene and stop the practice immediately.

Airways CEO Response: 

But aviation professionals have come to the rescue to explain that these meal labels are part of a universal system used by all airlines around the world. Sanjay Lazar, the CEO of Avialaz said “FYI in general aviation parlance, a Hindu Meal (HNML) is NOT necessarily a Veg meal: it could be a Non Veg meal that is not Halal. Similarly, a Moslem meal (MOML) is a Non-Vegetarian meal that is HALAL.”

Sanjiv Kapoor, former CEO-designate of Jet Airways also said on this matter, he said, "These codes are used by airlines that utilize global distribution systems (GDS) like Amadeus to standardize meal codes across different geographies and connecting flights." “Low-cost carriers do not use these systems and therefore may use different codes. Trust me — I have been in aviation 30 years,” he added.