Bollywood actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood has made a heartfelt appeal for passengers to maintain their composure and cease targeting ground staff of airlines. This comes in the wake of widespread operational disruptions at IndiGo, which led to chaotic scenes at multiple airports across India over the past few days.
Widespread Disruption and Passenger Anger
The actor took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday morning to share a video message. His intervention followed a series of significant flight delays and cancellations by the budget carrier, which left thousands of travellers stranded and sparked intense confrontations. Viral videos circulating online showed furious passengers arguing and shouting at airline employees inside airport terminals, demanding clear information about their rescheduled flights.
In his message, Sood expressed deep empathy for the stranded passengers, revealing that his own family was caught in the turmoil. "My own family was travelling, and they had to wait for 4.5-5 hours," he shared. He detailed the cascading effect of the cancellations, noting that many people missed crucial events like weddings, and important business meetings and events were called off.
A Plea for Compassion and Understanding
While acknowledging the legitimate "frustration" and "pain" caused by the long delays, Sood strongly condemned the aggressive behaviour directed at ground-level staff. He urged the public to consider the situation from the employees' perspective.
"But imagine yourself in their shoes. Those who are helpless themselves don't know what the future schedules are, whether the flights will take off or not. And those who get messages from above can only pass them on to you," Sood explained in his video.
He emphasised that the staff members were equally helpless and often lacked concrete answers from higher management. The actor appealed to people's sense of responsibility, stating, "As responsible citizens, it is very important for us to make sure that we do not react to them because they are helpless and they do not have any answers. Please try to stay calm. Control your anger and respect them."
Regulatory Steps and Committee Formation
The scale of the disruption has prompted action from the country's aviation regulator. On Friday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) established a high-level, four-member committee. This committee has been tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of the circumstances that led to the widespread operational failures at IndiGo in recent days.
The committee's findings are expected to shed light on the root causes of the crisis, which impacted a significant portion of the airline's network. The move underscores the seriousness with which authorities are treating the incident, which caused major inconvenience to a large number of air travellers nationwide.
As the airline works to normalise its schedule and the DGCA investigates, Sonu Sood's message highlights the human element of the crisis, reminding the public that courtesy and patience, even in stressful situations, are essential.
