| Complaint filed by | |
| Complaint filed on | May 28th, 2023 |
| Complaint filed against | vistara airlines |
- Text of Complaint by Ms. Kulkarni
I and 2 other companions with me were traveling from Mumbai to Varanasi today which is May 27, 2023, and the gate number was 65A on Mumbai airport.
Each of us had our handbags which altogether makes it 3 bags. The departure time was 1:30 pm and we began boarding at around 12:45 or 12:50 pm. It was a mess, as the boarding was handled with the least care and professionalism. The gate number was 65A and the flight number was UK621. When our turn came to board, there was one female Vistara staff aged 50+ years in a black coat who all of a sudden came and stood at the gate, and started instructing us that “Why did you carry such huge bags? You are not supposed to carry such big bags on air.” “You will not board unless I check the weight of your bags.” She pulled the bag from my companion’s hand and stopped her. Then, later a male baggage handler comes and threatens us that he will not let us board the flight unless our bags are weighed. We told the female Vistara staff and the baggage handler that we have already checked the weights of our bags at home and at the airport before boarding at the check-in counter. At the check-in counter, we told the authority that we wish to carry our bags and that’s when she checked the weight of our bags and let us carry them. To this, the baggage handler said we are not your slaves, you are the slaves right now so you cannot board the flight unless we tell you to and unless we check the weight of your bags. You will need to check in the bags and not carry them.
The female Vistara staff appeared above 50+ years was in a black coat, had a fairer skin tone (do not mean to judge anybody by their color, but I wish to mention this as the employees did not have an identity badge), and had heavy makeup. She was shouting at the other employees and apparently, she thinks she can speak in the same manner with every passenger even the people who board the flight.
Whereas, the male baggage handler, thinks he owns Vistara. If he does then why is he handling baggage? and what’s all the attitude about? This baggage handler was a Hindi-speaking man, with big eyes, a bald head on the front, 5 feet one inch, and a bit stout (I do not mean to judge anybody by their color, but I wish to mention this as the employees did not have an identity badge).
The baggage handler’s manner of talking was disgusting. He was uncivilized and unprofessional. He said that you people who board the flight are slaves and you need to do as we say shows his illiteracy. Is this the type of staff that is hired by Vistara in Mumbai airport’s ground staff? This whole incident occurred at 12:45 pm or 12:50 pm at gate number 65A on 27th May 2023. I answered back at him and asked him to behave himself but he did not stop and the female Vistara attendant kept supporting him and did not stop him. We have come to Varanasi for just one day and why would we carry many things with us? Nobody would want to pick up heavy bags and place them above the seats on the flight. People don’t carry the entire household with them everywhere they go via a flight that is just 2 hours away from a certain destination. Our bags were of the accurate size and we always carry these bags while traveling through Indigo, SpiceJet, and other airlines, but nowhere we were ever told to weigh the bags during boarding at the gate and nobody ever threatened us unlike in Vistara.
The baggage handler for Vistara is disgusting and has proved his unprofessionalism and illiteracy as well as lack of common sense. If he wanted us to get our bags weighed, he could have simply said that politely and told us to wait. What does he think of himself? He thinks he is the owner of Vistara, and others are slaves? Who has given him the right to call travelers slaves? The male baggage handler is a complete chauvinist and did not like me and my mother reacting to him. I am shocked about how Vistara can tolerate such sociopaths and how can a baggage handler call people his slaves. He is completely out of his mind.
This was the first time in so many years that I and my companions had to face this in Mumbai airport. The baggage handler had no business at the gate. Why was he appointed at gate 65A? What kind of mismanagement is this? Why was the boarding delayed? It is pathetic to see the kind of staff members Vistara hires who threatens their guests that they will not be allowed to board the flight just because of their bags.
This incident happened at gate 65 A during a flight from Mumbai to Varanasi from 12:45 pm- 12:50 pm. I urge the authority to look into this matter as this is an insult to travelers who chose to fly by your airlines for no reason when the travelers are not arguing with anybody and are just simply boarding. We paid for our flight tickets, but the male baggage handler and the female Vistara staff did not. Nobody has the right to stop any traveler from boarding the flight. The flight does not belong to the baggage handler and the female Vistara staff.
This male baggage handler and female Vistara staff at gate 65A on 27th May 2023 for flight Varanasi to Mumbai, flight number UK 621 do not deserve to work at Mumbai Airport.
