British Airways offloads Indian family after kid starts crying

British Airways offloads Indian family after kid starts crying

British Airways offloads Indian family after kid starts crying
The man, AP Pathak, said, "We were travelling to Berlin from London in British Airways. Our son started crying and a flight attendant came and threatened to offload us if our kid doesn't keep quiet and after a while, he called security and we were offloaded."
A senior Indian bureaucrat travelling on a British Airways London-Berlin flight has claimed that he and his family were offloaded from the plane on July 23 merely because his three-year-old child started crying.

The bureaucrat AP Pathak, said, "We were travelling to Berlin from London in British Airways. Our son started crying and a flight attendant came and threatened to offload us if our kid doesn't keep quiet and after a while, he called security and we were offloaded."

He said while his wife managed to calm their son, an "aggrieved" crew member approached them and started scolding the boy, asking him to get back to his seat. The boy had a window seat, but the mother had taken him into her arms to console him.

He alleged that when the plane started moving towards the runway, the crew member came back, shouting, "You bloody keep quite, otherwise you would be thrown out of the window."

The bureaucrat alleged that the crew got the plane (BA 8495) to return to the tarmac, where the security personnel took their boarding passes away. The customer care service manager did not give reasons for offloading them nor the management took action against the crew despite lodging a complaint, he claimed.

"We had to make our own arrangements for staying and travelling to Berlin the next day by paying a very hefty amount," he said, adding that the other Indian family was given tickets for a flight the next day, without any accommodation though.

Pathak is a joint secretary-level officer in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Pathak has filed a formal complaint with the British Airways. He said he has also written to Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Calling the incident an act of racial discrimination, Pathak has demanded an apology and compensation from the airline.

"With this unusual behaviour of the male crew member, my son got terrified and started crying intensively. My wife again put the boy on his designated seat and fastened the seat-belt, even though he kept on crying intensively being in a terrified state of mind due to the scolding by the male crew member," the officer wrote to Prabhu.

Responding to Pathak's claim, British Airways said in a statement said that it has taken the complaint extremely seriously. "We have started a full investigation and are in direct contact with the customer," the airline said.

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