On the 16th of September, on an IndiGo flight, travelling from Andhra Pradesh To Telangana (Vijayawada To Hyderabad) a woman was forced to changer her seat.
As per sources, the Telugu speaking woman who did not know Hindi or English was asked to change her seat, from 2A XL seat (exit row) to 3C. Although the change was expected to be due to safety concerns, the language barrier between the Telugu speaking woman and the cabin crew on board drew criticism and spark on the micro blogging site, Twitter.
One of the passengers, travelling on the same flight took to Twitter and shared her opinion, highlighting the indifferent behaviour of the airline staff towards people who do not know Hindi or English, but only the regional language.
Devasmita Chakraverty, an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, tweeted about the indifferent behaviour toward a Telugu speaking woman.
In her tweet, Devasmita Chakraverty said, “Flight from AP to Telangana has no instructions in Telugu, the attendant said it’s a safety issue that she doesn’t understand English/Hindi. If unhappy, we (not she) should complain. No dignity, non-Hindi treated as second class citizens in their own state #hindiimposition.” Devasmita Chakraverty further added, “The woman in green originally sitting in 2A (XL seat, exit row) was forced to seat 3C because she understood only Telugu, not English/Hindi. The attendant said it’s a security issue. #discrimination @IndiGo6E pic.twitter.com/bHa8hQj5vz. Dear @IndiGo6E Management, I request you to start respecting local languages & passengers who may not be well conversant in English or Hindi.”
The tweet posted by Devasmita has sparked a discussion over language barriers and how airline staff functions, especially discriminating against people, based on languages they speak, especially regional languages.
Reacting to the issue, one user wrote, “This is so unacceptable and problematic at so many levels. It is appalling that the @IndiGo6E staff thought that they can openly discriminate non-Hindi speakers under the garb of “security”. ha!”
However, the major reason behind why the Telugu speaking woman was moved is unclear. The Twitter army is having mixed opinion about it, as some calls it rude behaviour of the staff, and others said it is the security of the seating arrangement concern.
However, a Twitter user mentioned the inability of airline staff to speak southern languages, saying, “I’ve seen this so often. Hyderabad – Bangalore flights proudly say the cabin crew can speak in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Odiya. But not Telugu or Kannada.”
Besides netizens, Mr. K.T. Rama Rao, the Information Technology Minister of Telangana, also tweeted about the incident. On the 18th of September, Mr. K.T. Rama Rao said, “In regional routes, recruit more staff who can speak the local language like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada etc. This will be a win-win solution https://t.co/GbJGi5nl0W
— KTR (@KTRTRS) September 18, 2022
Dear @IndiGo6E Management, I request you to start respecting local languages & passengers who may not be well conversant in English or Hindi
In regional routes, recruit more staff who can speak the local language like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada etc. This will be a win-win solution https://t.co/GbJGi5nl0W
— KTR (@KTRTRS) September 18, 2022
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