Flight Attendant Yells At Passenger: "I Am Not Your Servant!" After Airline Fails To Deliver Special Meal

Video of an inflight confrontation between a passenger and a flight attendant has gone viral, where the crewmember declares “I am not your servant!” That’s after yelling “My crew is crying because of you!” The passenger told her to shut up, and she yelled shut up right back.

The IndiGo flight attendant is getting a lot of support from people on social media. It should never have reached this point.

Tempers soaring even mid-air: "I am not your servant"

An @IndiGo6E crew and a passenger on an Istanbul flight to Delhi (a route which is being expanded soon with bigger planes in alliance with @TurkishAirlines ) on 16th December : pic.twitter.com/ZgaYcJ7vGv

— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) December 21, 2022

A passenger booked a Turkish Airlines ticket on IndiGo and traveled from Istanbul to Delhi. He asked for a meal. IndiGo doesn't have an oven on their plane.

Airlines sometimes don't board special meals. The cabin crew is not to blame. The airline is to be blamed for taking the request and making sure the food is delivered. Airlines don't like to hold up flights to fix the failures of their caterer.

• Turkish Airlines shouldn’t accept special meal requests on codeshares operated by airlines that cannot deliver them. Indeed, special meal requests made from one airline for travel on a codeshare partner rarely work out. Codeshares are deceptive and the IT managing them usually riddled with problems.
• The passenger shouldn’t have gotten aggressive with the flight attendant. We don’t actually see that part of the interaction on the video, and can simply infer it from what comes next.
• There’s really no reason to respond in-kind. While the crewmember is frustrated, and it’s not fair that she’s subjected to an outraged customer (it isn’t her fault! it’s the fault of her employer and their codeshare partner and a customer who doesn’t understand their processes), however it’s better to de-escalate conflict inflight than to escalate it. That’s one way flights wind up diverting.

I feel bad for the customer. I would have liked to see the crew member respond more calmly. What do you think will happen when the airlines set up a system that is confusing and deceptive?

According to IndiGo.

We are aware of the incident that took place on flight 6E 12 from Istanbul to Delhi on December 16, 2022. The issue was related to meals chosen by certain passengers traveling via a codeshare connection.

IndiGo is cognizant of the needs of its customers and it is our constant endeavor to provide a courteous and hassle-free experience to our customers. We are looking into the incident and would like to assure that customers’ comfort has always been our top priority.

IndiGo has a lot of the domestic market in India. The co-founder of the company is the former CEO of US Airways, who left after the merger with United was terminated. Gangwal has been gradually selling down his stake in the carrier since he left the airline's board. The well-regarded Elbers took over as CEO of the airline in September.

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