Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar fly Air India post-crash, call it best inflight service

In the wake of the recent Air India crash that shocked the nation, several celebrated voices from Bollywood have stepped forward not just with condolences, but with solidarity. Choosing to fly with the airline shortly after the incident, veterans Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Zeenat Aman, and Raveena Tandon are using their public platforms to reaffirm trust in India’s national carrier.

The tragedy occurred on June 12, when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.

Advertisement

The aircraft, en route to Delhi, lost contact with air traffic control following a distress ‘May Day’ call from the pilot.

Moments later, it crashed into a nearby residential complex near BJ Medical College, leaving behind devastation and raising serious concerns about airline safety standards.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Shabana Azmi (@azmishabana18)

Despite the heavy shadow of the accident, veteran actor and MP Shabana Azmi and her husband, lyricist Javed Akhtar, made a public gesture of faith in Air India. The couple boarded a flight to London to attend Wimbledon 2025 and shared a photo from the aircraft on Instagram.

Also Read: These Bollywood men are out here making street style look more fab than ever

“Off to London for #Wimbledon on #AirIndia,” she wrote, calling it the “best inflight service in the world” and affirming her trust in the national airline.

Before them, Zeenat Aman also boarded an Air India flight and shared her emotional response via Instagram Stories. Posting a photo of herself on board, the yesteryear star admitted to being “overwhelmed with emotion” as she fastened her seatbelt. She added, “May our collective grief offer some solace to those who lost their loved ones.”

Actor Raveena Tandon took a slightly more poetic route. Posting a series of photos from her Air India journey, she described the flight’s atmosphere as “solemn,” with the flight crew’s welcoming smiles “tinted with sadness.”

She paid tribute to the families of those lost, writing, “A wound that will never heal… Godspeed always @airindia.”