NEW DELHI • Social media users have hailed a top executive of Indian airline Vistara for supporting his staff after a Twitter user posted a photo of a sleeping female flight attendant at an airport lounge.

The Twitter user with the handle @AviationAnalyst had tagged Vistara chief commercial officer Sanjiv Kapoor in the photo taken at Bangalore's Kempegowda Airport and wrote: "Your cabin crew providing negative image of Vistara at BLR domestic lounge on Tuesday, Dec 3, at 4.25pm. Please improve your image provided by the cabin crew."

In response, Mr Kapoor asked the person to remove the picture.

"We do not condone such photos being taken of our crew or customers without their permission, nor do we think it is correct to post such photos on social media. Our crew are the finest in the industry, and are human too. We suggest you do the right thing and take the photo down," he said.

Mr Kapoor's response has been lauded by netizens, with most people on social media saying he was "doing the right thing" by standing up for his staff.

"Very, very impressed! Standing up for your people speaks volumes about your culture! It is time folks respect the hard work of the service industry!" tweeted Mr Elton Hurtis.

Mr Samson De Souza also commended Mr Kapoor, saying: "Well done sir! Very few people realise the hard work that is put in by airline staff! Kudos!"

People also slammed the person who took the picture, saying that it was tantamount to an invasion of privacy.

"This is invasion on the rights of privacy of an individual and deplorable. Hats off to your assertive & dignified response @thesanjivkapoor. Stand by you completely," wrote Mr Vikrant Bhatnagar.

The Indian Express reported that the tweet from @AviationAnalyst was deleted after Mr Kapoor's response went viral.

@AviationAnalyst's Twitter account was also set to private as a result of the backlash.

Touched by the avalanche of support, Mr Kapoor on Friday thanked those who gave their "positive and supportive" comments.

"It means a lot to us and to all crew everywhere. To those asking why this crew was napping in the lounge: she was on a break between flights, and the lounge was specifically provided for the crew to rest in," the airline executive wrote on his Twitter account.