Video of an inflight confrontation between a passenger and a flight attendant has gone viral, where the crewmember declares “I am not your servant!” That’s after yelling “My crew is crying because of you!” The passenger told her to shut up, and she yelled shut up right back.
People on social media, and especially other cabin crew, are cheering this IndiGo flight attendant on from afar. But it should never have gotten to this.
Tempers soaring even mid-air: "I am not your servant"
An @IndiGo6E crew and a passenger on an Istanbul flight to Delhi (a route which is being expanded soon with bigger planes in alliance with @TurkishAirlines ) on 16th December : pic.twitter.com/ZgaYcJ7vGv
— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) December 21, 2022
The passenger booked a Turkish Airlines ticket – a codeshare – that involved travel from Istanbul to Delhi on IndiGo. He put in a request for a special meal. Low cost carrier IndiGo doesn’t have ovens on their aircraft.
Sometimes airlines don’t board special meals in any case. That’s not the fault of cabin crew. It’s the airline’s fault, which is responsible for taking the request and ensuring its caterers follow through. Often airlines more or less ignore the failures of their caterers, and are loathe to hold up a flight to rectify them.
- Turkish Airlines shouldn’t accept special meal requests on codeshares operated by airlines that cannot deliver them. Indeed, special meal requests made from one airline for travel on a codeshare partner rarely work out. Codeshares are deceptive and the IT managing them usually riddled with problems.
- The passenger shouldn’t have gotten aggressive with the flight attendant. We don’t actually see that part of the interaction on the video, and can simply infer it from what comes next.
- There’s really no reason to respond in-kind. While the crewmember is frustrated, and it’s not fair that she’s subjected to an outraged customer (it isn’t her fault! it’s the fault of her employer and their codeshare partner and a customer who doesn’t understand their processes), however it’s better to de-escalate conflict inflight than to escalate it. That’s one way flights wind up diverting.
Here I feel for the customer, though he behaved poorly. And I especially feel for the crewmember, though would have loved to see her respond more calmly. But at the end of the day it’s the airlines that set up a system that is confusing and deceptive and poorly executed, what do you expect to happen?
According to IndiGo,
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 endeavor 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.
Low cost Indian airline IndiGo has a majority of that country’s domestic market. Their co-founder, Rakesh Gangwal, is former CEO of US Airways, having left shortly after the termination of the airline’s merger agreement with United and after 9/11. Gangwal left the airline’s board earlier this year and has been gradually selling down his 36% stake in the carrier. In September the well-regarded Pieter Elbers, pushed out as head of KLM, took over the airline as CEO.
What was the special meal? A Knuckle Sandwich?
Love it!
When I see low cost airline, my only expectation would be for the plane to not crash
What is it with passengers on airlines these days? I get that air travel is stressful but to yell at a flight attendant is not acceptable. Issues should be taken up with the airline or agency that booked the flight.
The passenger seems to have an elitist, demeaning attitude which the senior FA was confronting by giving the passenger a dose of his own medicine.
Good for her. Sometimes things do not go our way – try and be respectful – after all, she said it – “I am not your servant”.
The passenger was wrong in talking to the flight attendant in that manner and she was wrong in her response to the passenger in that manner she has to learn to have self control
I pray she doesn’t lose her job over this. Not only because we are ALL human and have been stressed and losing patience, but because dammit, she’s RIGHT. And it’s too bad passengers cannot realize the reality of it all, that a crew is in charge, there to serve to some capacity but more for safety and NOT a servant. Nor responsible for the screw ups of others.
This pax is a scumbag and fully deserved what he got. He actually deserved quite a bit more, but we won’t go there. Absolutely pathetic that anyone would defend this turd.
You feel for the passenger? Wow. He is typical of the many Indians who feel that the staff serving them are servants. He is the proto typical ugly Indian. I’m Indian as well and have seen a lot of these sorts while working in hotels.
I just love how you all assume the passenger did something awful. According to the video we’re saying the only person who acted poorly was the flight attendant
Article shows that the author hasn’t actually worked in the airlines, or in a customer servicing role, needs a better understanding of what it’s like dealing with upset people every day, in this current environment. Easy to be the critic, when you aren’t getting yelled at every day.
@ Gary
“Turkish Airlines shouldn’t accept special meal requests on codeshares operated by airlines that cannot deliver them”
Do you have any data on the rate of successful delivery of special meal requests on a Turkish codeshare? In the event such success rate is high then wouldn’t it be reasonable to offer the service?
“The passenger shouldn’t have gotten aggressive with the flight attendant. We don’t actually see that part of the interaction on the video, and can simply infer it from what comes next.”
Do we have the evidence that the passenger was “aggressive” (rather than “frustrated”). When a friend of mine travels with a special meal request (vegetarian) it doesn’t always work out, but sometimes the crew do try and help out by scavenging items from other meals. It can sometimes be the case that even when the appropriate meal isn’t loaded for whatever reason that the crew can resolve the issue with a little ingenuity.
“There’s really no reason to respond in-kind.”
Yep. And second crew member is gently during to usher the “offended” crew member away.
“it’s not fair that she’s subjected to an outraged customer”
So, what was the customer – “aggressive” or “outraged”, or what, exactly?! Do we have any evidence over than inference (that favours the crew member)?!
“Codeshares are deceptive”
Ok let’s get rid of them!
I’ve never had problems with special meals on code shares… I call the operating carrier or go to their website and make sure the request is in their system correctly. However, most people don’t even realize they’ve booked a code share and this is where the problems begin. As for the FA, generally, it is better to ignore unreasonable people than attempt to engage — this is just as true in real life as it is online.
Good for her !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speaking of Turkish Airlines…I used United miles to book a business class ticket from AMS to IST in May. When I arrived at the counter, Turkish informed me that I has zero baggage allocation even though my ticket clearly said 40 kgs. In fact the people at AMS said they’d never heard of business class ticket without a checked baggage allocation. I had 30kgs and was forced to pay 240 Euros.
I complained to United. They sent me a $300 voucher. I also challenged the charge with my credit card. The dispute was ruled in my favor and the 240 Euros were credited back,
Two lessons of the story…1) Turkish is a bit effed up. 2) If you play it right, you can still work a screw up into an advantage.
It’s a low-cost airline. It’s no frills. Some passengers just need to get a grip! You pay for everything on low-cost airlines. I’m #TeamFlightAttendant.