Air India staffer throws 'fragile item' while loading. Passenger shares video

An Air India staffer was caught on camera throwing a passenger's "expensive musical instruments" into a van while loading them. A video of the incident is now going viral on the internet.

"Is this the way you handle fragile items?" Ishwar Dwivedi said, tagging Air India and Ratan Tata while sharing the video on Instagram. Note that ET has not independently verified the video.

However, another person defended the staffer. He said that usually these ground staff work long hours and are paid peanuts, so if someone has a fragile and expensive item, they should opt for certain transport services which cost more but will take care of their item.


"Dear friends, I worked in this industry for two years. The amount of labor required here is insane. There is no shade or anything on the runway, and mostly these loaders are paid very little money by handling agencies. Each flight has close to 250 - 300 bags weighing close to 12 kgs on average. They handle 10-12 flights a day. So if you have something super precious, there are services which transport your stuff safely but at a higher price! If you don’t want to pay those charges for fragile courier or cargo, please don’t cry about this," said the Instagram user.

Others, however, were more critical of the airline.

"Air India better stop its service if you cannot handle not only these incidents but also improve your overall service. You should explain to your crew members the importance of respecting passengers. I witnessed very poor treatment from an air hostess on my last flight and I made sure to give her a lesson so she doesn't repeat it. Very poor service (SIC)," said another.

Another person said IndiGo staffers also handle passengers' luggage like that.



Baggage mishandling by airlines is not new. A 2022 survey revealed that 35 per cent of airline passengers have found their luggage missing or damaged.

Indian flyers' top three complaints continue to include reports of missing and/or mishandled baggage, the survey added.