Unruly passenger creates ruckus mid-air; video of altercation with crew goes viral [details]

IndiGo continues to expand its routes, both domestically and internationally. Last month, the airline launched flight services to Portugal and Switzerland via Istanbul under its codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines. The airline has been in the news for its rapid growth, but it has now made headlines for entirely different reasons. A video showing an altercation between an IndiGo air hostess and a passenger on board an Istanbul to Delhi flight has gone viral.

Here's what actually happened

The viral video shows the IndiGo air hostess arguing with a passenger, who called her a servant at one point. The air hostess in the video, a crew lead, intervened after the passenger demonstrated unruly behaviour with another crew member over the choice of meals offered to him. The passenger's rude and insulting behaviour caused one of the crew members to break down into tears.

Though the video shows the crew member arguing with the passenger, a fellow passenger who spoke to International Business Times on the condition of anonymity said the entire altercation started out of an unreasonable demand about a meal. "

You are pointing finger at me and yelling at me. My crew is crying because of you. Please try to understand, there is a cart and counted meals are uplifted (on the plane). We can only serve what your boarding..." the air hostess can be heard saying in the video, before the passenger interrupts and says "Why are you yelling?"

The heated argument continues mid-air and the other crew member tries to calm the situation.

"I am sorry but you cannot talk to the crew like that. I am peacefully listening to you with all due respect but you have to respect the crew as well," she is seen telling the passenger.

As the altercation continues, the passenger says she is a servant. The crew head immediately clarifies that she is an employee and not his servant.

Empathetic towards IndiGo crew

Passengers and netizens have had mixed reactions to the incident. Some passengers spoke against the behaviour of the crew members, but many were emphatic towards the crew, who were attending to the needs of the passengers on a long-haul flight. Passengers from a mix of aviation and hospitality sectors said the passenger's ask was unreasonable and that there are limitations to what the crew can offer on flights. But they also remarked that the crew should not have responded the way they did.

"The passenger's behaviour was uncalled for. His unreasonable ask on an international flight for something as little as a meal and the way he behaved with the crew was unacceptable. Despite that, the should have handled the situation better," a passenger on the flight told us on the condition of anonymity.

Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor also reacted to the incident and came out in support of the air hostess.

"As I had said earlier, crew are human too. It must have taken a lot to get her to breaking point. Over the years I have seen crew slapped and abused on board flights, called "servant" and worse. Hope she is fine despite the pressure she must be under," he said in a tweet.

IndiGo has responded to the incident and said it is looking into it.

"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 traveling 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 and would like to assure that customers' comfort has always been our top priority," IndiGo said in a statement.