Man Claims IndiGo Seated His Son Alone Despite Paying Rs 44K For Tickets, Airline Responds

A Nagpur-based lawyer has alleged that IndiGo seated his three-year-old child alone on a flight from Bagdogra to Kolkata. In a now-viral LinkedIn post, the lawyer named Gaurav Mishra stated he paid approximately Rs 44,000 for the family's tickets, but the airline separated the child from both parents solely because they did not pay additional seat selection fees, violating DGCA guidelines.

Mishra highlighted that the issue became even more concerning as the Bagdogra to Kolkata route was experiencing heavy turbulence, and his child was left alone.

"Indigo forced my 3-year-old kid to travel alone in a seat because their parents didn't pay extra for seat selection," wrote Mishra, adding: "As in my case, they forced my 3-year-old kid to sit unaccompanied without any parent in the next seat despite having a highly turbulent route of Bagdogra to Kolkata, where, despite paying you Rs 43,900 (Total cost including connecting) for three tickets, we were selectively granted random, jumbled seats."

Describing the incident as emotionally distressing for him and the child, Mishra shared a screenshot of DGCA's guidelines, adding that he reserved the right to seek compensation for the mental agony caused.

"Dear IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd), it seems your Training Team has failed to teach you Rule 3.15 of Air Transport Circular 01 of 2024 of DGCA dated 23rd April 2024 are not properly conveyed to the operations team," said Mishra.

Check The Viral Post Here:

'Deeply Concerning'

Responding to the post, social media users pointed out that the majority of airlines were engaging in a similar behaviour, designed to extract the maximum amount of money from passengers.

"This is deeply concerning. Forcing a 3-year-old to sit unattended is not just a violation of DGCA guidelines, but a significant safety and emotional risk," said one user, while another added: "This is now a feature with all airlines. Pay for your seats otherwise families will be separated and senior citizens will be allotted middle seats on purpose."

A third commented: "Pathetic and insensitive. Passenger safety and child welfare should come before seat management or commercial considerations. Airlines cannot treat families with toddlers like random passengers."

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IndiGo's Response

As Mishra's post gained traction, IndiGo responded publicly, claiming that it attempted to contact him but received no response.

"Mr Mishra, we tried connecting with you on the call but couldn't establish contact. We request you to share a convenient time or an alternate contact number via DMs so we may connect with you for further communication," IndiGo said in a statement.

Mishra, however, claimed that he had received no phone call but had an email confirmation where the company said it had allotted a seat behind and another in a parallel row to the parents. IndiGo deemed this arrangement as the child being "accompanied".