Baggage mishandling in Air India
Probably I am not the first person who suffer these scandals. It might be happening for years and so many people might have been affected. Was there any action taken against this. I dont think so. Last year when i travelled back from USA, I had to take Air India from Newark. I kept a pair of watch (which I bought as a gift for my Cousin's wedding) in one of my baggages. When i reached Chennai, I saw that the pair of watches were missing. I also realized that there were other items like a Pen (with a USB jump drive), etc were missing from that baggage. It was evident that someone openened the baggage and took these items out. I complained to Air India through phone and also complained via the 'Contact Us' facility in http://www.airindia.com/. Nothing happened after that. I thought that it was purely a bad luck for me.
Couple of days back, one of my friends travelled in Air India via Chicago to Chennai. In Chicago Airport, she was asked to check in her cabin baggage as there was no space inside the aeroplane. She was one of the first few passangers and she was not sure why she was asked to checkin the baggage. At the end, there were lots of room in the cabin, enough to hold atleast 20-30 baggages. When she reached chennai, she figured that two used cellphones were missing from her cabin baggage. One was her old phone and other was her friend's phone which he wanted to give it to his father. There were also some stationary items like Parker Pens, etc that were missing from the same baggage.
I spoke to some of my friend's here who have taken Air India for their travel purposes. Almost all of them were mentioning similar instances where some of their items were taken from the baggage. Since all these people travel from USA, one or two items missing from the baggage is not a big deal and none of them took it seriously. But think of how much amount that would be taken on a daily basis. Say for example, if they take items worth $50 from each baggage and in all they take from 100 baggages (In Air India almost 400+ people will travel in a Boeing 747 and each will be carrying two checkin baggages and one cabin baggage). The amount approximately will come to $5,000. If not to this magnitude, the amount should be about couple of thousands or could be less. But what matters is the fact that they were involved in this for a longer period of time now and things were perfectly planned.
We were wondering why some one would specifically ask to checkin my friend's baggage when there were so much space inside the Aeroplane. Why specifically her baggage was choosen?!!! When I digged much into it, I came to know shocking things. Ofcourse it might be not fully correct, but let me tell you what I heard. When Air India does its security check for the baggages under the X-Ray machine, it will know who is carrying lots of expensive items. So at the end of the checking, they put some kind of a mark in your boarding pass. Then those people's baggages were asked to be checked in and boom, few items will be gone. The same applies for Checkin baggages. My baggage had a big (X) Cross mark in the top of the baggage. Similarly, those people who mentioned that items were missing from their baggage also noticed that some items were lost in their baggages too.
For a well reputed, established airline like Air India, this is highly unappreciated act. It is highly discouraging. One of my clients (who is an American) when travelled in Air India also lost some of his items in the Checkin baggage. He said, "Not just the Fares are cheap in Air India, but the airline itself is cheap". Is this how we want an Indian organization to be perceived by the entire world. Something to think about. I again raised a complaint with Air India via http://www.airindia.com/. Let me see what action they are going to take now. The worst thing is that, I am also travelling in Air India this weekend. I dont know what will happen to my baggage. Let me hope that I am one of those few lucky persons whose baggage is not looted. Spare my items this time Air India.
Couple of days back, one of my friends travelled in Air India via Chicago to Chennai. In Chicago Airport, she was asked to check in her cabin baggage as there was no space inside the aeroplane. She was one of the first few passangers and she was not sure why she was asked to checkin the baggage. At the end, there were lots of room in the cabin, enough to hold atleast 20-30 baggages. When she reached chennai, she figured that two used cellphones were missing from her cabin baggage. One was her old phone and other was her friend's phone which he wanted to give it to his father. There were also some stationary items like Parker Pens, etc that were missing from the same baggage.
I spoke to some of my friend's here who have taken Air India for their travel purposes. Almost all of them were mentioning similar instances where some of their items were taken from the baggage. Since all these people travel from USA, one or two items missing from the baggage is not a big deal and none of them took it seriously. But think of how much amount that would be taken on a daily basis. Say for example, if they take items worth $50 from each baggage and in all they take from 100 baggages (In Air India almost 400+ people will travel in a Boeing 747 and each will be carrying two checkin baggages and one cabin baggage). The amount approximately will come to $5,000. If not to this magnitude, the amount should be about couple of thousands or could be less. But what matters is the fact that they were involved in this for a longer period of time now and things were perfectly planned.
We were wondering why some one would specifically ask to checkin my friend's baggage when there were so much space inside the Aeroplane. Why specifically her baggage was choosen?!!! When I digged much into it, I came to know shocking things. Ofcourse it might be not fully correct, but let me tell you what I heard. When Air India does its security check for the baggages under the X-Ray machine, it will know who is carrying lots of expensive items. So at the end of the checking, they put some kind of a mark in your boarding pass. Then those people's baggages were asked to be checked in and boom, few items will be gone. The same applies for Checkin baggages. My baggage had a big (X) Cross mark in the top of the baggage. Similarly, those people who mentioned that items were missing from their baggage also noticed that some items were lost in their baggages too.
For a well reputed, established airline like Air India, this is highly unappreciated act. It is highly discouraging. One of my clients (who is an American) when travelled in Air India also lost some of his items in the Checkin baggage. He said, "Not just the Fares are cheap in Air India, but the airline itself is cheap". Is this how we want an Indian organization to be perceived by the entire world. Something to think about. I again raised a complaint with Air India via http://www.airindia.com/. Let me see what action they are going to take now. The worst thing is that, I am also travelling in Air India this weekend. I dont know what will happen to my baggage. Let me hope that I am one of those few lucky persons whose baggage is not looted. Spare my items this time Air India.
posted by Saravanan S @ 9:56 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
This is great info to know.
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