Jet Airways CEO backs IndiGo air hostess seen indulging in war of words with flyer

New Delhi, Dec 21: Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor reacted to the heated exchange between an IndiGo air hostess and a passenger over choice of meals onboard a flight from Istanbul to Delhi, a video of which has gone viral.

Taking to the micro-blogging platform, Sanjiv Kapoor posted the video and shared a similar experience that he had some years ago. He cited instances of flight crews being abused, and even slapped.

"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 wrote.

The video that captured the incident was from an Istanbul-Delhi Indigo flight.

''My crew is crying because of you,'' the IndiGo air-hostess is heard telling the passenger. The passenger is also heard telling her, ''You are a servant of a passenger'', to which she responded, ''I am an employee and not your servant... I am not your servant.'' At one point, the passenger said ''why are you yelling? Shut up'' to the air-hostess, who also asks the former to ''shut up'', according to the nearly one-minute-long clip that was apparently shot by a passenger in the flight.

IndiGo, meanwhile, said it is looking into the incident. According to IndiGo, the issue related to meals chosen by certain passengers travelling via a codeshare connection.

DGCA looking into incident
A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the regulator is looking into the incident and shall take appropriate action.

''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,'' the airline said in the statement.

Codeshare allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence.