IndiGo, India’s low-cost domestic airline, was heavily criticised on social media on Friday after a video clip of ground staff mishandling luggage while transferring it from the aircraft to the trailer went viral. While some passengers complained that their bags were frequently mishandled or even broken, others claimed that their luggage never arrived at their destination.
The video, first shared on Twitter by @triptoes, showed a few IndiGo employees tossing boxes – which the airline denied were “customers’ possessions” – from one of its aircraft to the trailer.
“Hi @IndiGo6E is this how you handle all flight luggage everyday or today was special?” the Twitter user asked.
“It’s always like this,” wrote a Twitter user, replying to the video, while another person said that they were now “concerned of flying #IndiGo in the future”.
Another user pointed out in the comments that IndiGo got rid of the ‘fragile’ stickers that they used to provide for delicate luggage. “They’ve also gotten rid of the fragile tags because ‘we treat all bags like they’re fragile’. Sure looks like it,” the user said.
“The boxes in the video shared are not customers’ luggage but instead, these are fast-moving, light weight containers carrying non-fragile cargo and packed by the shippers for us to endure fast maneuvers. We’d like to assure you that our customers’ possessions are our priority and they are handled with utmost care,” IndiGo said.
One such passenger shared another video, in the same thread tagging the airline, and complained that their luggage was being thrown around in the same manner. “In that case @IndiGo6E, do these look like fast-moving, light weight containers carrying non-fragile cargo? They were throwing our luggage like they were rocks,” the user wrote.
“My bag was broken as well and Indigo did nothing even after an official complaint to the desk,” read another reply. IndiGo replied to the person saying they will look into the matter.