Indigo woman passenger claims co-pilot barged into occupied toilet, airline responds

PTC News Desk: A woman passenger was left shocked and humiliated on an IndiGo when the First Officer (co-pilot) barged into the loo while she was inside. Rhea Chatterji, co-founder of the gold merchandise platform Safegold and an alumna of the London School of Economics, recounted the ordeal in a now-viral post on LinkedIn.

“An IndiGo First Officer barged in on me while I was using the loo before take-off, but the airline doesn’t feel this warrants meaningful redressal,” she wrote.

“I locked the door and, once seated, heard a knock, which I replied to. Shortly after, there was another knock, which I replied to more loudly. Before I’d even fully spoken, the door was forcibly opened, and a male crew member was gazing directly at me while I was in a vulnerable state. He simply said ‘oh’ and shut the door,” she alleged.

“I locked the door and, once seated, heard a knock, which I replied to. Shortly after, there was another knock, which I replied to more loudly. Before I’d even fully spoken, the door was forcibly opened, and a male crew member was gazing directly at me while I was in a vulnerable state. He simply said ‘oh’ and shut the door,” she alleged.

Chatterji further explained that to her surprise, the female flight attendants tried to downplay the incident, saying that they are apologetic over the inconvenience. 

“I felt shocked and utterly violated. To make matters worse, the female flight attendants then tried to downplay the incident, saying they were sorry for the ‘inconvenience’ and were sure ‘he hadn’t seen anything’,” she wrote emphasising that the rest of the 90 minutes on flight were nothing less than discomfort. 

Soon after the touchdown, she approached the IndiGo's leadership team, “Sadly, IndiGo’s idea of making this right was a few calls repeating this was an inconvenience and an email paying lip service full of corporate jargon, saying the individual conveyed ‘profound remorse’. Not once was this remorse or regret conveyed directly,” she wrote, adding that the airline eventually offered her a refund and vouchers.

The airline in response issued an apology asserting that safety and dignity of their customers remain airlines' top priority. “Ms Chatterji, we profoundly apologise once again for the experience you went through due to an inadvertent mistake by one of our crew. Please be assured that your feedback has been taken with utmost seriousness. At IndiGo, safety, dignity, and comfort of our customers remain our highest priority. We assure you that the crew has been counselled and sensitised, and we are reinforcing training to ensure such incidents are never repeated.”