Traveling the world as the crew of an airline was once supposed to be a glamorous affair. Not any more, at least for this airline.

The international crew of India's national carrier, Air India, has been shamed by a UK hotel for filling their lunch boxes with buffet food, the Times of India reported.

Hotel Renaissance London located close to Heathrow Airport alleged that "some AI crew members regularly come down for breakfast with empty boxes into which they fill food items from the buffet, presumably to eat later".

An Air India official then sent a warning note titled 'A buffet is not a takeaway' to all its international flight attendants saying stringent action would be taken against offenders.

Some crew members have reportedly said that such incidents happen because of the reduced layover time in London that doesn't allow Air India members to catch up on food and sleep properly.

Moreover, meagre layover allowances prohibit them from eating out or spending on room service. Hence, some resort to sneaking food from hotel buffets.

"We are aware that this could be a very small minority indulging in such a behavior... but we have no desire to allow the reputation of Air India to be tarnished by a handful of such individuals," its note said.

Some people on social media have slammed the airline for this practice.

Air India crew takes away buffet food in boxes, Shameful practice should stop immediately. Also aircraft items https://t.co/mDaobKeuKX — jati dhillon (@jatidhillon1) February 7, 2017

@timesofindia this is national shame Sir @jayantsinha. Plz investigate and make sure such embarrassment is avoided.https://t.co/BPvKx2ZifQ — #BijayMallick 🇮🇳 (@bjymlck) February 7, 2017

@timesofindia cheapskate behavior. Shame on the nation — Dr. Venkatesh Raj (@rv2410) February 7, 2017

@timesofindia Don't AI staff get paid enuf? R they trained on honesty & integrity too or just how to be nasty! — Vin Kumar (@BhallaVinod) February 7, 2017

But there was an interesting counterpoint too.