A Facebook post depicting one of the worst kinds of experience during the process of boarding a flight is going viral now. The post was shared by one Kawaljit Singh Bhatia on late Friday night. The terrible episode took place after Kawaljit dropped his mom, an elderly woman who was supposed to travel alone, at the Delhi International airport on May 3. What follows is not less than a ‘nightmare’ for his whole family.
“I dropped my mom at Delhi International Airport for a flight scheduled to take off at 10.50 am for Kolkata. She happily bid me and my wife Preena a goodbye. My mom had done web check in. She had the boarding pass. All the crew had to do was ask her to produce the boarding pass and let her board. I receive a call from my mom that Jet Airways won’t let her board the flight because she is late,” Kawaljit wrote on Facebook.
Moments later, he said he received a call from his mom saying that the staff at Jet Airways is misbehaving with her.
“She requested to be boarded on the flight but they demanded a sum of Rs 5,500 on the pretext of extra baggage. She also told me that after weighing her bag, they threw it back on the floor rudely telling her that the bags are overweight,” he adds.
“The issue was not about being late but about forcing money out of a hapless senior citizen-passenger, who was an easy victim/ target because she was travelling alone). I asked my mom to pay the amount, so that she can travel and does not face any harassment. The amount of Rs 5,500 was paid to the Jet Airways and no receipt was issued at that time,” he wrote.
But, instead of things falling into places, the situation got worse when he received another call from the airport that literally swept the floor off his feet. “I was told that my mom is lying unconscious on the airport floor and that blood is oozing out from her. I could hardly believe my ears and did not know how to react. I simply froze. My wife shook me while I was just about to hit a car in the front and I had to brake hard to avoid the collision”.
So, what exactly happened between paying the amount and him receiving a call from the airport?
“The Jet Airways staff, especially one Upasana Bagga created so much pressure on my mom that it eventually led to her blacking out and fainting on the airport floor. The rude demand for money, the harassment of not being allowed to board the flight, the embarrassment from being shouted at a public place and people around and gathering around the commotion, the pushing and shoving after being given a boarding pass after paying the money and the pressure unnecessarily created by resorting to pressure tactics, just to squeeze money out of my mom had a cumulative effect of her nervous and psychological break down, blackout and fainting on the airport floor,” he further explains.
“On a slightly different note, I believe it could be anyone’s mother or love one in such a situation. My mom, on falling got a deep cut on her chin and hurt her head. So, she had to be moved to Medanta hospital located inside the airport premises, where the doctor present advised that no stitches could be done because the wound was too deep and needed a surgeon. All of this to a passenger who is just there to board a flight and go from point A to point B,” he adds.
When asked whether he has received any clarification from the airlines, “As of now, I haven’t received any clarification from the Jet Airways side. Also, when we raised the complaint, I was told that higher officials are looking into the issue,” Kawaljit told Newsd.
Here is the official response from Jet Airways:
@GetNewsd Please refer to our official statement: pic.twitter.com/Ezztr2QUA7
— Jet Airways (@jetairways) May 6, 2017
