GUWonder

I would have guessed that Air India offered kosher meals, after all India does have a very small jewish minority, and India has been a very popular travel destination for people from Israel especially. [Can we say hebrew signs in Goa and cute Israeli girls on the beach? ]

The perceived "better security" at Indian airports is merely "perceived". The security is better for Air India outside of India than within India.

Sean, last time I was flying out of New Delhi, the immigration/emigration person by looking at my address on the form told me at whose house I was a guest. I was sort of surprised, but could this be because it was an official's residence with govt. provided security?

GUWonder

Yes we should. The evidence the NTSB relies upon to say the pilot intentionally crashed the plane is based principally on someone basically saying that "In God We Trust" as the plane is going down. That in and of itself is not indicative of intention. In my opinion, it is indicative of a man who is basically praying that God will intervene and save them. After all, he had bought gifts to take back to his family (on the ground .. not in the heavens.).

kef0913

Actually, IIRC, he said it BEFORE the plane went into a dive and the black box data showed that his controls were the ones used to place the plane into a dive, which is what made it so suspicious.

MBS MillionMiler

I don't know about CI. But I know Dragonair does out of TPE and HKG. I've gotten sick a few times on a variety of carriers on Intra-Asia flights (in J or F class every time)...So, this good Irish Catholic boy always special orders Kosher meals on all of my intra-Asia flights, especially those out of TPE or Mainland China. IIRC, the Kosher meal is made in England and has been EXACTLY the same packaging/styling regardless of my departure point, so I assume they all just get them shipped in from the same kitchen.

Last time flying HKG-SFO (UA in Business), I didn't special order, and I got very ill about 4 hours into the flight...I'm thinking of switching to Kosher on all of my flights out of Asia. I realize that all of the food comes out of the same kitchen regardless of intra-, inter-, or airline, but it's not so bad to get sick on my way home, versus having food poisioning 4 days into a 2 week business trip.

GUWonder

That's not what the Egyptians say -- nor even what the NTSB pulled, IIRC, but I may not. Of course, the Egyptians have a vested interest in saying it was not intentional. But then again who does not have a vested interest?

Jenbel

No, you can't take the example of one person and use that to extrapolate behaviour for a whole group of people. If we start doing that, then no group of people, be they Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jewish, white, black, pink, purple, green, American, European, African or indeed even Martian can be trusted to be professional, as there are always people within those groups whose behaviour is less than the best. After all, following that logic all Americans must be serial killers because Ted Bundi was?

Grog

Exactly. Beyond that, I think I won't allow myself to get sucked into this black hole of a thread.

--Grog--

Internaut

I don't think Emirates uses any Arab pilots. Every time I've travelled with them the pilots had distinctly white South African/Zimbabwean accents.

Directly after 9/11 Emirates was my airline of choice because I didn't think the terorrists would want to blow up a plane full of Arabs. Obviously, things have moved on a bit since then.

GUWonder

Emirates does have pilots from the Emirates itself... although the majority of pilots are of other nationalities. Terrorists can be pretty indiscriminate about who they target. Remember what OBL said about muslims (American or otherwise) living and working in America? IIRC, the mad man said they should not live in the US and not live and work in high rises or fly on planes because they cahort with the enemy and die with the enemy. If Al-Jazeera and some of the Arab press focused on OBL's disregard even for the "muslims" that he claims to be fighting on behalf of, then he may be discredited even further than he already is by his actions.

Analise

A very good thing you are not involved with airline public relations as the words above demonstrate tremendous intolerance to the diversity of world religions.

GUWonder

At least he is equitable. All world religions... with no favoritism shown.

Analise

I hope you look for that silver lining when I say something to which you disagree!

kanebear

May you fly an airline that serves nothing but dog and cat and shares your mindset on special meals. It's not ignorance and intolerance to provide for someone who doesn't believe in consuming certain foodstuffs due to personal conviction. To NOT provide for that is ignorant and intolerant. People who eat such meals aren't forcing/asking YOU to eat that way... they're observing the laws of their chosen faith. What's on their dinnertray has no effect on you whatsoever.

GadgetFreak

Ah, but personal conviction isnt necessarily the same as religion. I have nothing against serving vegetarian meals whether for health reasons or because you dont believe in harming animals. After reading how they handle animals for meat in the US Im greatly restricting my intake, particularly of some kinds of meat and being as selective as possible about the sources.

As to religion, I am equal opportunity where this is concerned. I dont care what someone believes or doesnt. But I think, and I dont see how one can argue really, that the world is too complex and interconnected for people to act out on their religious beliefs. As I look around the world I dont see many problems that arent caused by religion. And I think that at least as a first approximation, someone who eats meals based on religious rules is likely to apply religious beliefs and superstitions to other situations rather than rationally dealing with the situation. As an example, the Bible/Koran/etc says I should live here so I will kill you if you try to stop me. I think that someone who will or will not eat something based on what they think a supernatural being wants them to do is less likely to make rational decisions in other contexts as well.

In my opinion, and Im sure Im the minority, the world is too complex, dangerous and yet filled with promise (which may not be met) for decisions to be made based on religion.

Whether it is the middle east, Ireland or the fact that stem cell research that might save peoples lives cant be done in the US, Im fed up with it.



[This message has been edited by GadgetFreak (edited Jan 08, 2004).]

GUWonder

The silver lining when I disagree with you is that we are interested in making America (and maybe some other countries) a better place. Of course our ideas of better places can differ.