IndiGo airlines
An IndiGo passenger on flight 6E 806 from Chennai to Bengaluru, Supriya Unni Nair, has alleged the flight captain Jayakrishna for being abusive, threatening her and her 75-year-old diabetic mother after she requested for a wheelchair for her mother. The passenger, who is an independent journalist, said that during the verbal spat, the flight captain threatened them that he will make sure they are sent to jail to learn some manners. In a series of tweets, Supriya Unni Nair narrated the entire incident of what actually happened.
Raising the matter on Twitter, Nair wrote, "@IndiGo6E Your captain on 6E 806 from Chennai to Bangalore on January 13 Jayakrishna harassed, threatened and prevented me and my 75-year old diabetic mom from disembarking the flight and threatened to arrest us because we asked for wheelchair assistance."
"I always ask for wheelchair beforehand for my mom and remind staff when we land. Staff on all airlines have always been helpful. Our flight was late & when we landed at 9:15 I tried calling the assistance bell & when the crew didint respond I walked up for help," Nair said.
Nair further claimed, "we don't have access to a wheelchair when it was clearly printed on the ticket. When I pointed this out to her, the captain came barging out and yells at me for pressing the assistance button and annoying him and his crew."
"How dare you call her Veena he asks. (FYI her name tag says Veena) Taken aback, I tell him not to yell at me and then the threats start. The wheelchair guys arrive and he points at mom and says you're not going anywhere," Nair added.
Nair said, "He (captain) prevented the wheelchair people from taking my mom out of the aircraft threatening us that he will ensure we are detained and spend a night in jail."
"Disbelievingly I ask him whether he is serious? Shut up . Who do you think I am? I'll get my CEO to make sure you spend a night in jail, "we" will teach you some manners, he says," Nair wrote on Twitter.
"My mom in the meanwhile is worried as he is so aggressive that he looks like he will get physically abusive with me and says please don't be rude like that, to which he says he is the captain, his job is to fly the plane here and not be polite to mere passengers," Supriya Nair mentioned.
"You have paid piddly 2000 rupees you don't own the aircraft he adds. I will make sure you are barred from the skies he yells my mom and me," Nair said explaining how the captain threatened them.
"Veena meanwhile says - stop it na, she's recording. (I wasn't recording because this was so unexpected and I was unprepared. My husband calls my phone and he smirks, takes my husband's name and continues his abuse)" Nair said.
"When I tell him he can't threaten us like this, he says Yes I will threaten you. I am a captain. You can't touch us. ( again alluding to Indigo top brass). He then said he will not fly the onwards flight to Goa UNTIL ME AND MY 75 YEAR OLD MOM ARE PUT IN JAIL," IndiGo passenger said.
Nair continued narrating the matter on Twitter saying, "The security folks and the Indigo ground staff meanwhile come and try and get us off the flight. We reach the bus and the "captain" is meanwhile ranting and stops it from moving forward. We are the only ones on the bus and it's getting late for mom's meds."
"Bangalore airport staff, the CISF security and Indigo ground staff meanwhile are amazing and try to protect me and my mom as well during this time and are apologising profusely. Once we reach the arrival lounge, we are held back again. Jayakrishna is standing there ranting that "we" are not slaves, threatening me with dire consequences if I post about this on social media," Nair wrote.
"The Indigo staff at the airport are alerted about his shouting at me and a huge lot of them came to mom and me apologising. I write a quick complaint and leave because my mom was feeling dizzy because she hadn't taken her diabetes meds."
"Jayakrishnas parting shot was another threat that there will be an FIR filed against me and my mom. A big thank you to all the staff at the arrival lounge at Indigo for helping us leave unhurt and safe. This is just a gist of how abusive Jayakrishna was. This will be never-ending if I write the whole thing. NONE of the other crew onboard 6E 806 - male Be female - intervened or helped us on the plane," Nair alleged.
"In this day and age when young women of integrity are fighting to get an equal standing in the workplace, it was extremely disappointing to see Veena claiming we were at fault only to later admit that the captain was indeed abusive. Hope the top brass at Indigo takes note of the captain, Veena and the silent crew for such vile and misogynist behaviour. This is not how women traveling alone at night, especially the elderly should be treated ANYWHERE," Nair said.
"I also hope this does not reflect the culture and ethos of Indigo. There are hundreds of good folks there whose reputation has been thrown to the dogs because if the likes Jayakrishna and his crew on 6E 806."
"Why am I tweeting at 2:15 am? Because my mom was literally shaking by the time we got home. She had her meds and now she is mortified that Jayakrishna will carry out his threats and harm me... and other board members at Indigo, can you guarantee my safety?" Nair asked.
Noticing the Twitter trail, Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, "I requested my office to contact @IndiGo6E as soon as I saw the tweet by Ms @SupriyaUnniNair about the pilot's behaviour with her & her 75-year-old mother in need of wheelchair assistance. The airline has informed @MoCA_GoI that the pilot has been off-rostered pending full enquiry."
Meanwhile, IndiGo has also issued a statement saying, "We're aware of complaint raised by a passenger on Chennai-Bangalore flight last night. Matter is under internal review & necessary action will be taken. Our team is in touch with the customer to ensure her concern is understood well & to help avoid such experiences in future."
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