Hubli-Delhi flight's pilot makes announcement in Kannada. Watch

A video of a flight's first officer making an in-flight speech in Uttara Kannada has delighted internet users.

A video of an IndiGo pilot speaking in Kannada on a Hubli-Delhi flight is going viral on social media after it was uploaded by union minister Pralhad Joshi, who is also the Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka’s Dharwad. Joshi was travelling from Hubli to the national capital.

The video was posted on Twitter by Dharwad MP and union minister Pralhad Joshi, who was on the flight. (@JoshiPralhad/Twitter)

The IndiGo flight was among the first set directly connecting the Tier II city to Delhi; the service was inaugurated by union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The video - which has over 60,000 views - begins with First Officer Akshay Patil introducing himself and greeting the union minister. He provides details of the flight's duration, distance to be covered and altitude, and then adds that he hopes more flights are scheduled from Uttara Karnataka to various destinations, including those abroad.

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He concludes by reminding passengers to wear facemasks (as part of Covid protocol still in force on domestic flights). The entire speech was in a variation of the Kannada language that is spoken in Uttara Karnataka and delighted people online.

Joshi too was delighted and tweeted, “The mandated language of the country was nowhere to be seen during the flight to Delhi. Another special feature of our Hubli to Delhi flight service is that the flight announcement is in our North Karnataka language. @IndiGo6E.”

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“Our very own Akshay Patil was the pilot of today's flight, welcomed all the passengers in swachha (pure) Uttara Karnataka language and flew us to the national capital. Tell me what could be more delightful than this...If our language and culture remains intact, only then there can be progress,” he added.

Pro-Kannada activists were however not wowed. A Twitter user, Krushika AV, said, “He is in our circle and from Karnataka, so he spoke in Kannada. But in the language policy of the union, there is no opportunity to use our language to talk about safety inside the plane, now Hindi is imposed even at the airports. Only Hindi and English have become the language of aviation. Stop Hindi imposition for linguistic equality.”

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Another replied, “At least be happy about this,” to which he responded, "This is not a sentimental serial, so why should we be happy thinking that this is all we deserve? This is a work to raise awareness about the injustice done to us as citizens of this country. We are treated like pariahs and seen as inferior to Hindi speakers. We Kannadigas have the right to get administrative services in Kannada."