The couple lost their luggage while flying from Mangaluru to Pune by Air India Express on January 18, 2025.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
In the latest instance of a luggage mess-up, an Indian army officer has been brought to his knees by the bureaucracy of Air India Express.
The private airline misplaced the luggage of the retired officer and his wife when the couple flew from Mangaluru to Pune. Despite registering a complaint at Pune airport and following up through phone calls for over a month, the elderly couple are yet to get their luggage. And now, they allege, officials of the airline are avoiding their calls.
Major General (retired) Satish Bhandary and wife Laila Bhandary are based in Pune. They had travelled by Air India Express from Mangaluru to Pune on January 18, 2025. At the time of boarding the flight in Mangaluru International Airport, Laila Bhandary was carrying a bag, which she intended to keep in the cabin.
However, an airline staff in Mangaluru suggested that she put her bag in the check-in luggage. “She explained that this would make our travel more comfortable since we are senior citizens. I took her suggestion and checked-in my bag. I got the tag, and we boarded the flight. In Pune, we did not get the bag. We approached the airline staff who looked for the bag, but could not locate it,” Ms. Bhandary said.
A prolonged wait
“After waiting for two hours, we registered a complaint with the airline, and left the Pune airport around 11 p.m. We were given phone numbers of persons to contact. We have been following up with them, but we are yet to get the luggage,” Mr. Bhandary said.
Ms. Bhandary added, “We were the ones to call and follow-up. The airline never gave us an update. Does the airline expect passengers to make daily calls seeking details of their missing luggage? As a retired couple, we could manage to follow-up. Can every passenger do this every day for more than a month? Passengers carry important things in their luggage. Is this how the airline handles it? And, why can’t the airline find our luggage even after one month? What is taking them so long? Why are they not taking our calls?”
Mr. Bhandary further alleged, “On being asked by the airline, we shared the details of what was in the bag. After that, they stopped taking our calls.”
Upon contacting Air India Express, The Hindu got an e-mail response stating: “Thank you for reaching out to us. Concerned with your email, please be informed that your request is in progress for the booking via case number ********. Kindly allow us some time, you will receive a response via the said case number. The current case number will be closed. Keep writing to us as it helps us serve you better. We appreciate your patronage and look forward to serving your future travel needs.”
Stumbling from one PR fiasco into another
In February, Union Minister for Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan complained after allegedly being assigned an ‘unserviceable’ seat on a Bhopal-Delhi flight. In response, Air India said that it would “conduct a thorough investigation to ensure such incidents are not repeated”.
That same month, Youtuber Pratik Rai took to X to complain about Air India Express after the airline misplaced his luggage while travelling between Bengaluru and Delhi.
Earlier in November 2024, a woman had accused Air India Express of mistreating her 71-year-old mother, who was travelling alone from Kochi to Bengaluru.
Published – March 04, 2025 01:13 pm IST
