Air India has been drawn into a growing social media backlash over workplace dress codes after screenshots described as excerpts from an older cabin crew handbook circulated online, showing restrictions on visible religious and cultural symbols including sindoor, tilak, kalawa, black thread, nose pins, anklets and mangalsutra. The airline has said the viral images are from an outdated manual and no longer represent its current policy. A company spokesperson said employees have the choice to wear a bindi, seeking to distance the carrier from claims that it bars cabin crew from displaying common cultural markers while on duty.
The controversy gathered pace after users on X shared screenshots purportedly from the cabin crew handbook. The document said tikka and sindoor of any colour on the forehead were not permitted. It allowed a small bindi with the saree, subject to limits on size and design, but said it was not permitted with the IndoWestern uniform. It also listed restrictions on additional jewellery around the neck, including religious accessories such as mangalsutra, taali, threads and beads.
The row follows a separate storm around Lenskart’s in-store style guide, which had been criticised for barring bindis, tilaks and kalawa while permitting hijabs and turbans under certain conditions. The eyewear retailer later published a revised style guide on April 18 that explicitly allowed religious, cultural and family marks, including bindi, tilak, sindoor, sacred threads, kalawa, mangalsutra, kada, hijab and turban.
Peyush Bansal, Lenskart’s co-founder and chief executive, said the circulated document was an outdated internal training file and not an HR policy. He said the company had no restrictions on religious expression, including bindi and tilak, and acknowledged that the earlier wording should not have appeared in the document.
Air India’s clarification has not ended the debate, partly because the screenshots appeared to contain detailed instructions rather than casual advisory language. Social media users questioned whether the rule book had ever shaped staff grooming expectations, even if the airline no longer uses it. Others argued that airlines globally impose strict uniform codes for safety, brand consistency and passenger-facing discipline, but said such rules need to be framed carefully when they touch symbols linked to religion, marriage or identity.
The issue is sensitive for Air India because the carrier is in the middle of a high-profile transformation under the Tata Group. The conglomerate took control of Air India from the Government of India on January 27, 2022, and has since merged Vistara into the full-service airline as part of a wider consolidation of its aviation business. The Air India-Vistara merger was completed on November 12, 2024, creating a larger full-service carrier with a combined fleet and workforce across domestic and international operations.
The backlash also points to a broader challenge for consumer-facing companies: internal manuals that were once seen as administrative documents can now become public flashpoints within hours. Rules on appearance, jewellery and religious symbols are no longer judged only by operational managers; they are scrutinised by customers, employees, investors and political commentators. Companies that cite outdated documents in their defence face a second question over why such language existed and whether staff were ever asked to follow it.
Workplace dress codes are lawful and common when they are tied to safety, hygiene or professional presentation. Airlines often restrict loose jewellery, sharp accessories, bulky items and visible embellishments because cabin crew work in confined spaces and must respond quickly during emergencies. However, policies become vulnerable to criticism when they appear to treat similar forms of religious or cultural expression differently, or when they fail to explain the operational basis for restrictions.
Air India has not publicly released a revised grooming manual in response to the controversy. Its position is that the document being shared online is not current and that bindis are allowed. That has placed the airline in a defensive posture rather than a proactive one, especially after Lenskart chose to make its updated style guide public to demonstrate a policy shift.