Harsha Bhogle Highlights IndiGo’s ‘Uncaring Attitude’ Towards Elderly Couple; Airline Responds

Mumbai: Eminent cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle took to social media to highlight his disappointment with IndiGo for the way they dealt with an elderly couple.

In his post on X on Saturday, Bhogle shared that an elderly couple, who had paid for their seats in the front row, was moved to row 19 without any explanation. The man, Bhogle pointed out, was struggling to walk towards the rear of the plane, and it needed some people to raise their voice for their original seats to be restored.

“The gentleman was going to struggle to walk till row 19 in a narrow passage. But who cares? A few people had to make a noise and point out the immorality and only then, thanks to the pleasant cabin crew, were the original seats restored. But, and this is the point, they had to make a noise; otherwise, Indigo was going to get them to walk till 19 and check after boarding was complete if they could be assigned 4, which meant they would have to walk back,” Bhogle wrote.

The commentator added how the elderly was complaining about the ordeal.

“The elderly lady was meekly complaining about how this is a common occurrence and how it is stressful for people their age to travel #Indigo. ‘I wish they didn’t have a monopoly,’ she said. Such a pity. I am sure @IndiGo6E; you can sensitise your ground staff to put the passenger first occasionally. It was so disappointing to see how casually they were moving elderly passengers. With success comes responsibility. As someone who is proud of a successful Indian enterprise, I hope you can be more sensitive and not institutionalise this uncaring attitude,” Bhogle said.

 As Bhogle’s post went viral, the airline responded.

“Mr Bhogle, thank you for bringing this to our attention and taking the time to speak with us. We sincerely regret the confusion that caused inconvenience to the customers. Our crew quickly intervened, ensuring they travelled comfortably in their originally assigned seats. We’ve also reached out to the customers to address this personally. We truly appreciate your understanding and look forward to serving you again soon,” Indigo replied.

Since being shared on the morning of August 24, the post has got 5.4 lakh views and over 6,800 likes, and counting.

Some of the reactions to Bhogle’s post are anything but pleasant for Indigo.

“IndiGo is an auto rickshaw in the air. Can’t complain much. If anyone is really paying for preferred seats, better go with Air India or Vistara. Been travelling a lot with AI, they are worth the little premium on the fares,” wrote one user.

“Cattle class treatment is because of monopoly. These things change quickly when competition forces a level playing field. The next few years would be pretty bad for domestic aviation. Need at least 5-6 big players to transform the industry. Route monopoly is another challenge,” expressed another person.

“This tweet strikes a chord. @IndiGo6E has the opportunity to set an example in customer care, not just in cost-efficiency,” said a third netizen.