A Bengaluru family has taken to Twitter to post a video, in which it accused Air India of refusing to allow its pet onboard despite having a boarding pass. The video has now gone viral on social media and prompted mix reactions from the users. In this video, the family says it has followed all the rules and regulations, but despite that, had to face an ordeal. The family was bound to travel from Bengaluru to Delhi and then to Amritsar on AI 503 flight on Saturday.
Sachin Shenoy, who had gone to the airport with his family and pet, took to Twitter to complain about the aforementioned incident.
"We were supposed to be on a 12-day trip from Amritsar, Dharamshala and Dalhousie. We had booked these tickets about three months back and we have been in constant touch with the Air India authorities on process for travel with our pet," Shenoy says in the video.
"Our pet weighs 4.2 kilograms and with the bag she is hardly five kilograms heavy. As per the rules, she can fly inside the cabin. We got all checks and certificates done and was issued a boarding pass by Air India today," he goes on to add.
Shenoy said they waited for four hours in the lounge and the pet did not create any ruckus there.
"As the flight came, the pilot, Captain Chopra, denied entry to us or that is what was told to us," he said.
"We also understand that the flight was overbooked, and because of which they wanted us to deboard so that they could take more passengers."
Shenoy said the family was told to "leave your pet and go".
"You can fly if you leave your pet, we will not allow you to take the pet inside. So it is as good as leaving our kid and going. Is this travel in India all about?" Shenoy questions in the viral video, further referring to aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and PM Modi.
Shenoy claimed that he had suffered "major losses" since he had made all hotel and travel bookings in his destination city.
As the video went viral and users started calling the airline 'anti-pet', Air India responded to the video.
"Sir, we love our furry friends as much as you do. Our Bengaluru Airport team had extended all support to ensure your Fluffy could fly with us on board," Air India said.
"However, the Commander of the flight was not fully satisfied with the cage and muzzle of the pet which is why he could not allow it to be carried in the cabin," the airline added.
Shenoy, responding to the airline's claim, said: "This is false information, if this was the case your team would not have given her a boarding pass."We went through all the verification of the qualification of Fluffy"s travel eligibility and fitness 4 hours before the flight. Please stop pedalling white lies."
As a "goodwill" gesture, Air India offered the family a revalidation of their tickets and asked to accept the offer.
The family, however, hit back saying no one from the airline had reached out to them regarding the agreement and posted the response only to pacify the public outcry after viral video.
"This proves that the response was a sham and as of this tweet 23.27pm, I have had no communication whatsoever from @airindiain. I rest my case and they are #antipet and are #liars.," Shenoy said on Twitter.
