A recent Twitter video of a passenger and an IndiGo flight attendant clashing on board an airplane went viral. According to the footage, this occurred after the customer reportedly made another flight attendant cry. “I am an employee,” the flight attendant eventually told the customer. I am not your servant.”
The now-viral video shared on Twitter by Indian reporter Tarun Shukla.
The incident happened on board IndiGo flight 6E 12 from Istanbul to Delhi last December 16.
It all started from a sandwich
The scuffle began when a passenger asked a sandwich and was informed by the crew that they had to make sure one was available. The issue was triggered by meals selected by specific customers going via codeshare. She requested the man to “please try to understand.”
“There is a cart and counted meals are uplifted [on the plane],” the flight attendant explains.
“Why are you yelling?” the passenger fires back.
“I am so sorry, sir, but you cannot talk to the crew like that. I’m literally listening to you with all due respect, but you have to respect the crew as well,” the cabin crew replies.
Coming in defense of her colleague
“Stop pointing your finger at me and yelling at me, my crew is crying because of you,” the unnamed flight attendant tells the passenger as she comes in defense of her colleague.
“You cannot talk to the crew like that,” she yells, as another crew member attempts to calm the situation.
When the passenger then tells her to “shut up,” the flight attendant replies “You shut up!”
“I am an employee,” the flight attendant replied. “I am not your servant,” she said before putting up her face mask and walking away, followed by another flight attendant.
Witnesses on board side with the flight attendant
One fellow passenger on the same aircraft turned to Twitter and said that it was definitely the male passenger’s fault who behaved ‘rudely’. “The IndiGo crew did take a lot of the brunt from this pax. Otherwise maybe they could have diverted and dropped him off somewhere in a foreign land with the cops there? He got to come home,” stated the tweet.
Another Twitter user named Vasundhara Sirnate posted, “I’m on the side of the IndiGo flight attendant. The man clearly calls her a servant, he says ‘you are a servant’. She responds with ‘I am an employee’. It makes me sick to see so many men saying this is bad behaviour by a flight attendant. Sorry, but there are limits,”
IndiGo’s statement
IndiGo is now investigating the incident. In a statement, they said, “We are aware of the incident that took place on flight 6E 12 from Istanbul to Delhi on December 16, 2022. The issue was related to meals chosen by certain passengers travelling via a codeshare connection.
“IndiGo is cognizant of the needs of its customers and it is our constant endeavour to provide a courteous and hassle-free experience to our customers. We are looking into the incident.”
Although flight attendants are taught to maintain a professional demeanor at all times, something must have transpired in order for this flight attendant to respond in this manner.
While it is a flight attendant’s role to serve their passengers, no one has the right to treat them like slaves. The job will always have limitations. We must also learn to appreciate those who work in the service industry. It’s about time to change the mentality of looking down on and abusing workers in the service business, such as cabin crew.
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