A family based out of Bengaluru accused Air India of not permitting their dog inside the aircraft despite having all documents, including the boarding pass. In the video, which was posted by the couple on Twitter, the duo claimed that before boarding, the airline officials told them that the dog will not be allowed onboard because the pilot did not give a nod for its travel.
The family was travelling from Bengaluru to Delhi and then to Amritsar on a 12-day vacation. They were boarding flight AI 503 on Saturday.
“The weight of our pet is 4.2 kilograms and with the bag she is hardly five kilograms heavy. As per the AI rules, she can fly inside the cabin. She got all checks done and was issued a boarding pass,” said Sachin Senoy, in the video he shared on social media. He added he was told the family can fly leaving the dog behind. “It is as good as leaving your kid and flying,” he said.
Responding to Shenoy’s query, the airline, in statement, said: “Dear Sir, we regret the discomfort caused. It’s never our intention to cause any inconvenience to our passengers. Please share your booking details and pet EMD details via DM for us highlight this to our concerned airport team to look into this on priority.”
Soon, Shenoy posted a letter, which said that he was denied entry to the flight because the pilot did not permit the pet.
Adding to the above tweet, AI said it would arrange for their travel the next day. “However, as a goodwill gesture, we are offering you a revalidation of your tickets for the entire journey tomorrow. Kindly accept our humble offer as we would love Fluffy to fly with us,” the airline tweeted.
The Air India handle then said that a team will get in touch with the couple and help them out. But later, a tweet by Shenoy mentioned that no one contacted them on behalf of the airline and that it was all a sham. “Where did you disappear, you wanted my number and details, after sharing no call nothing. This shows it was a response just to reduce the backlash,” Shenoy tweeted after Air India promised them of assistance.
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