After the video of a heated argument between a cabin crew member of IndiGo airlines and a passenger began doing the rounds on social media, Sanjiv Kapoor, the CEO of Jet Airways took to Twitter in support of the air hostess and said that it must have taken a lot to get her to the breaking point. The incident shown in the video took place on December 16 on an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Istanbul. In the video, the air hostess can be seen shouting at the passenger, “I am an employee. I am not your servant.”
“Crew are human too,” tweeted Sanjiv Kapoor, as he went on to say that over the years, he has seen members of the cabin crew being slapped and abused on flights. Kapoor also recalled an incident on Jet Airways a few years ago, where a 19-year-old newly joined crew member was slapped by a passenger because his meal of choice was not on board. “I met her the same day, she was inconsolable and said this is not what she signed up for. She quit flying the same day,” he said.
“As I have always said, the customer is always right... until he (or she) is wrong. Physical or verbal abuse or humiliation is NEVER acceptable,” tweeted the Jet Airways CEO.
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. https://t.co/cSPI0jQBZl
— Sanjiv Kapoor (@TheSanjivKapoor) December 21, 2022
You, sir, are then part of the problem. As any reasonable person would agree, use of the word "servant" and its implications depend on the context in which it is used, **especially in India**. Justifying such usage with crew in the context it was used, is simply unacceptable. https://t.co/a1VV8BntGU
— Sanjiv Kapoor (@TheSanjivKapoor) December 22, 2022
In the video of the incident which took place on the IndiGo flight, the air hostess can be heard saying that she is “peacefully listening” to the passenger and he has to respect the cabin crew as well. The passenger responded by saying that he does respect the cabin crew to which the air hostess asked why he was yelling at her then. The passenger then raised his voice and asked the air hostess to “shut up.” This angered the air hostess and she said, “I am sorry you cannot talk to me like that. I am also an employee here.”
Meanwhile, IndiGo airlines responded to the incident and said that they are, “cognizant of the needs of its customers and it is our constant endeavour to provide a courteous and hassle-free experience to our customers.”