IndiGo roasted over manhandling incident; ministry demands immediate report
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Nov 08, 2017, 01.20 PM IST
MUMBAI: Public and social media outrage poured on IndiGo over an incident of manhandling a passenger, the airline's late public apology three weeks after the incident and its management's firing of the whistleblower of that incident, instead of the employees that assaulted the passenger.
The stock of the publicly listed holding company Interglobe Aviation, slipped as much as about 2% to Rs 1182.9 during morning trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Meanwhile, #boycottIndiGo trended on Twitter as millions of posts condemned the incident and the airline's stance.
"Do nothing for 3 weeks, sack whistle-blower, & put perfunctory apology when exposed.
Indigo is not a low-cost airline.
Just a cheap airline," said Ramesh Srivats, a Bengaluru-based active Twitter influencer who has 3 million followers.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha called the incident "deplorable and unfortunate".
In a series of posts, Sinha said the ministry has asked for a detailed report today and added that he will meet Montu Kalra, the employee whose services have been terminated. He said he also hoped that the passenger Rajiv Katiyal would file a police complaint against his assaulters.
When contacted, Kalra said he hasn't been called by the ministry yet. Katiyal didn't respond to calls, nor did he reply to messages.
In a stern post, Ashwani Lohani, national carrier Air India's former chairman took to Facebook, calling the incident "inhuman, disgusting" and "not at all acceptable in a civilised society". He said "the sacking of the whistleblower is the icing on the cake of gross misconduct".
Lohani is now chairman of the Indian Railway Board.
"It is apparent that such an act is borne only out of the false sense of pride that the company (IndiGo) has started displaying since their market share has starting knocking on 50%. Indifference towards the passengers who took them there is indeed sad," he added.
The incident that occured on October 15, came into public attention yesterday after a video, shot by Kalra, surfaced in the media.
The video shows Katiyal just about to board a shuttle to the Delhi airport's arrival terminal after having deplaned from a flight that came from Chennai.
The video finds him in a heated altercation with IndiGo's ground staff. Katiyal is accused of abusing an employee which he irritably denies.
He is then physically barred by an IndiGo staff from boarding the shuttle. The video shifts focus for a few seconds post which, Katiyar is shown being tackled with his hands behind his back by another employee and moved away from the shuttle. He then lunges at the employee who barred him from boarding the shuttle, demanding how he dared to push him. The employee shoves him to the ground and pins him there. He is joined by other IndiGo staff who also hold Katiyal. The key employee in the altercation has been identified by Kalra in a subsequent log entry as Mr Jubby (Jubi Thomas).
When contacted, Kalra said he was summoned by the management between October 16 and 30 and then his services terminated. He said Thomas and the others have just been given warning letters.
In its statement yesterday, IndiGo said "stern action was taken against the staff who was the main culprit by immediately terminating his employment. He was the one found instigating and aggravating the situation." A spokesman later clarified the statement meant Kalra.
IndiGo has been involved in similar incidents of late. On Saturday, ace badminton player PV Sindhu posted tweets complaining about misbehaviour by IndiGo's ground staff.
Sindhu's badminton racquets were too long to be kept in the overhead locker and hence had to be moved to bellyhold cargo. According to her posts, the ground staff employee shifting the sports bag replied rudely when Sindhu asked him to be careful with the equipment. An airhostess who tried to intervene was spoken with rudely too, said Sindhu.
The stock of the publicly listed holding company Interglobe Aviation, slipped as much as about 2% to Rs 1182.9 during morning trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Meanwhile, #boycottIndiGo trended on Twitter as millions of posts condemned the incident and the airline's stance.
"Do nothing for 3 weeks, sack whistle-blower, & put perfunctory apology when exposed.
Indigo is not a low-cost airline.
Just a cheap airline," said Ramesh Srivats, a Bengaluru-based active Twitter influencer who has 3 million followers.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha called the incident "deplorable and unfortunate".
In a series of posts, Sinha said the ministry has asked for a detailed report today and added that he will meet Montu Kalra, the employee whose services have been terminated. He said he also hoped that the passenger Rajiv Katiyal would file a police complaint against his assaulters.
When contacted, Kalra said he hasn't been called by the ministry yet. Katiyal didn't respond to calls, nor did he reply to messages.
In a stern post, Ashwani Lohani, national carrier Air India's former chairman took to Facebook, calling the incident "inhuman, disgusting" and "not at all acceptable in a civilised society". He said "the sacking of the whistleblower is the icing on the cake of gross misconduct".
Lohani is now chairman of the Indian Railway Board.
"It is apparent that such an act is borne only out of the false sense of pride that the company (IndiGo) has started displaying since their market share has starting knocking on 50%. Indifference towards the passengers who took them there is indeed sad," he added.
The incident that occured on October 15, came into public attention yesterday after a video, shot by Kalra, surfaced in the media.
The video shows Katiyal just about to board a shuttle to the Delhi airport's arrival terminal after having deplaned from a flight that came from Chennai.
The video finds him in a heated altercation with IndiGo's ground staff. Katiyal is accused of abusing an employee which he irritably denies.
He is then physically barred by an IndiGo staff from boarding the shuttle. The video shifts focus for a few seconds post which, Katiyar is shown being tackled with his hands behind his back by another employee and moved away from the shuttle. He then lunges at the employee who barred him from boarding the shuttle, demanding how he dared to push him. The employee shoves him to the ground and pins him there. He is joined by other IndiGo staff who also hold Katiyal. The key employee in the altercation has been identified by Kalra in a subsequent log entry as Mr Jubby (Jubi Thomas).
When contacted, Kalra said he was summoned by the management between October 16 and 30 and then his services terminated. He said Thomas and the others have just been given warning letters.
In its statement yesterday, IndiGo said "stern action was taken against the staff who was the main culprit by immediately terminating his employment. He was the one found instigating and aggravating the situation." A spokesman later clarified the statement meant Kalra.
IndiGo has been involved in similar incidents of late. On Saturday, ace badminton player PV Sindhu posted tweets complaining about misbehaviour by IndiGo's ground staff.
Sindhu's badminton racquets were too long to be kept in the overhead locker and hence had to be moved to bellyhold cargo. According to her posts, the ground staff employee shifting the sports bag replied rudely when Sindhu asked him to be careful with the equipment. An airhostess who tried to intervene was spoken with rudely too, said Sindhu.
