Air India Faces Criticism As Passenger's Luggage 'Missing For 36 Hours' On US-India Flight

Small mistakes made by airlines can transform a trip into a nightmare. Nowadays, passengers often use social media to share their dreadful flying incidents. Recently, a PhD scholar posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating that Air India neglected to load her luggage. She mentioned having to call customer care approximately "40 times" before they finally answered her call.

On the evening of July 8, Pooja Kathail, a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley, tweeted, "@airindia. I took a direct flight from SFO to BLR yesterday, but @airindia didn't load my suitcase onto the plane. It's been 36 hours, and there's still no estimate for delivery. It took 40 attempts to get them to answer the phone. I have a wedding tomorrow and no clothes."

The airline acknowledged the issue and apologized, stating, "Dear Ms. Kathail, we apologize for the delay and the inconvenience caused. Please send us a direct message with your booking reference, baggage report copy, and bag tag so that we can investigate with our airport baggage team and provide you with an update."

Later, around 10 pm, she posted another update, stating that she had not received any communication from the airline yet. The airline responded, "Dear Ms. Kathail, we have forwarded the information to our baggage team for review. Please give us some time to collect the required details and give you an update."

Since she posted it, her message has caught the attention of many users on social media. It has garnered over 26,000 views and 175 likes.

"I have a flight to San Francisco tomorrow. Now, I'm thinking of asking my family to wait at Bangalore airport until my flight departs and they confirm that my luggage is on board," said the user.

Another person commented, "This appears to happen regularly now. My family members flew from SFO to BLR last week and had the same experience. The bags arrived days later after numerous follow-ups. People choose Air India for its direct flights, but now it's becoming troublesome and not worth the convenience of a direct flight."

Someone recounted, "In 2007, I traveled to LA on an Air India flight. Like you, my luggage didn't make it onto the plane. When I finally received it a week later, the lock was broken and around $1500 worth of camera equipment was missing."

A user remarked, "This keeps happening often on flights from SFO to BLR. Air India frequently cites weight limits due to weather conditions as the reason."

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