A passenger on Tuesday was forced to deboard an IndiGo flight after he complained of mosquitos inside the aircraft.
According to NDTV report, the airline officials said the man was off-loaded after he allegedly kicked up a fuss and abused the crew over mosquitos on board. The airline also added that the man had used the word "hijack".
Saurabh Rai, a heart surgeon, was scheduled to fly from Lucknow to Bengaluru on flight 6E 541. Reports say that moment after he boarded the flight, he started complaining about the mosquitos inside the aircraft. "Before the cabin crew could address his concerns he became aggressive and used threatening language," IndiGo said in a statement.
"He (Rai) attempted to instigate other passengers on board to damage the aircraft and used words such as 'hijack'. Hence, keeping in mind applicable safety protocols, crew apprised pilot-in-command, who decided to offload him," IndiGo further added.
DNA report further added that the eyewitnesses have also said that neither the staff nor the security men arranged any vehicle to drive Dr Rai back to the airport lounge; he walked all the way back.
"When Dr Rai complained about the mosquitoes inside the aircraft, all that the staff did was that they asked him to take another flight to Bengaluru," one of the co-passenger told DNA.
After the news went viral on social media, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered an enquiry into the incident.
"I have ordered an enquiry into the incident of off-loading passenger Dr Saurabh Rai by IndiGo at Lucknow Airport," Prabhu said in a tweet.
This is not the first time the budget carrier has been caught on the wrong side of customer relations.
On November 4, last year, ace shuttler PV Sindhu claimed that an IndiGo ground staff behaved “very badly and rudely” with her. However, the carrier denied the claim blaming her oversized bag which she wanted to keep in the overhead bin. The airline said that it was “extremely proud” of Sindhu’s sporting achievements but safety of the operations was paramount.
In the same month, Indigo had also apologised to a passenger, Ms Urvashi Parikh Viren, after she fell off her wheelchair while being assisted by its staff at Lucknow airport. The Airports Authority of India, which operates the Lucknow airport, had even rapped the airline's staff who had pushed Viren's wheelchair towards the arrival hall, "for gross negligence, as he chose the wrong path on the tarmac and mishandled the passenger."
In November again, two IndiGo staffers misbehaved with a female lawyer at the Guwahati Airport. According to the reports, the victim, Krishna Sarma alleged that IndiGo staffers at Guwahati airport forcibly snatched her phone to delete pictures she had taken. The pictures were of her luggage being screened before the check-in procedure. The staffer asked her to delete the pictures and in spite of her telling that she had done so, he snatched her phone and deleted the pictures from her 'recently deleted' folder. Later, the airline officials issued a statement saying they have suspended the two concerned staffers.
In another incident, a video of which went viral on the social media, an Indigo passenger was seen manhandled by its staff at Delhi airport. The airline initially issued a four-page statement defending its staff, saying they were only acting in self-defence. IndiGo chief Aditya Ghosh later offered his "personal apologies", saying "this does not reflect our culture."
(With Agency Inputs)
