The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Transport slammed Indigo Airlines on Friday, 5 January, saying that the behaviour of the airline’s staff was “rude” and “condescending,” reported CNN News18.
The committee’s statement comes after an Indigo passenger was thrashed and dragged at the Delhi airport on 15 October 2017. According to CNN News18, the committee said that Indigo needs to develop a customer-friendly approach.
Calling the Indigo cabin crew discourteous, the committee said that they treated the passengers like “herd.” The report also said that the crew don’t say anything to the passengers other than “hello” and “thank you.”
According to ANI, the parliamentary panel on Thursday tabled a report in the Rajya Sabha on the issues related to improving consumer satisfaction in airlines. The committee also discussed the issue of exorbitant airfare during festival and holiday seasons, natural disasters, and political and social unrest.
Airlines should offer better quality food as well as change menus periodically, suggested the report. It also flayed Indigo for not providing food to diabetic passengers, IANS reported.
The CEO of Jet Airways admitted to the committee that in recent times, the quality of food served in Jet Airways has deteriorated and assured that it will be improved in a few weeks. There were less complaints about food served by Spice Jet, Air Asia, and Air India. Everyone liked the food served by Vistara.Report
The issue of manhandling of staffers by passengers was brought up during the discussion in light of recent events, when a passenger from Chennai got into an argument with the ground staff and had an altercation at the Delhi airport.
The committee recommended that Indigo and other low-cost airlines should take adequate steps to ensure that food is available to the passengers on demand, especially to those who have some medical condition.
The committee notes that the main difference between a low-cost carrier and the full-cost carrier is the serving of food. It is unacceptable for airlines to serve unsatisfactory food after having charged customers for it. Every airline should maintain the highest quality of food and they should also change the menu occasionally instead of keeping a cold sandwich in their menu throughout the year.Report
According to Financial Express, the committee also noticed reports of some private airlines creating a delay at check-in counters so that passengers miss their scheduled flights and are compelled to pay higher prices for the next available flight.
(With inputs from CNN-News18, ANI, IANS and Financial Express)
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