AirAsia India 'rude' behaviour: DGCA probes altercation between staff, passengers

Following the complaints of ill-treatment by Bagdogra-bound AirAsia India staff after the flight was delayed by more than four hours on Wednesday, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha assured "appropriate follow-up action". On Thursday evening, Sinha tweeted, "DGCA is reviewing the incident and we will take appropriate follow up action." 

According to reports, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the incident in which passengers of an AirAsia India flight from Kolkata to Bagdogra got into an altercation with the airline staff after delay in departure. Some passengers on the AirAsia India flight on Wednesday had an altercation with the airline staff. A passenger had reportedly claimed the incident took place as passengers were deplaned after the flight was delayed by over four hours. The plane had some technical snag, said a PTI report.

Indian Oil Corporation Executive Director (West Bengal) Dipankar Ray, who was onboard the same flight, said the staff behaved in a very "unprofessional and rude" manner with the passengers and asked them to deboard, leading to an altercation between both sides. He told PTI, "The flight was scheduled to depart at 9 am and was initially delayed by 30 minutes. After boarding, we kept sitting inside the aircraft for one-and-a-half hours with no food or water at all." 

Ray reportedly said that the flight captain instructed all passengers to de-board without any explanation, adding "When passengers refused to deboard due to heavy rains outside, the captain put the air-conditioning blower on full blast to hound the passengers out. It created a scary scene as heavy fog was created inside the plane and it was very suffocating." 

He also claimed in the report that many women passengers started vomiting and children were crying. He also uploaded a video on his Facebook profile, wherein, passengers were seen arguing with on-board staff to switching off the blower. 

AirAsia India, however, in a statement on Wednesday, said the flight "i5583 from Kolkata to Bagdogra was delayed by 4.5 hours due to a technical requirement", adding that there was no danger to any of the occupants on-board the aircraft as the cool conditioned air being circulated was condensing. 

"This is a normal occurrence on-board all aircraft when the air conditioning is operated in high humidity conditions," the statement said, claiming that all the affected guests were offered refreshments and provided with alternate arrangements requested for. 

Countering the claim, Ray reportedly said, "When we reached the food court, they refused us. There was no communication from AirAsia at all. We had to pay. When we were boarding the flight second time, then they gave us one sandwich and a 250 ml water bottle. This is an unacceptable treatment."

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Meanwhile, AirAsia India has said that it regrets the inconvenience caused to guests on account of this disruption and would like to reinstate that the airline always prioritises safety above all.