Vistara responded on Twitter apologising to the user.
A Twitter user has slammed Vistara Airlines, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, claiming that he was asked to produce a "cremation centre receipt" when he requested for his booking to be rescheduled. The tweet generated a barrage of responses from others users who not only called the airline's behaviour shocking but shared their experiences too. Vistara responded apologising to the user and promising they will look into the incident. They later posted a long thread giving details about what happened and clarifying that its staff followed all the standard protocols.
"Hey @airvistara, asking for cremation centre receipt from a frequent traveler who asked for a booking to be rescheduled on family emergency basis is by far the coldest thing I have heard from a B2C brand, ever. I literally have no words," Twitter user Karthik Nagarajan posted on May 22.
Twitter soon erupted with users calling the airline's response shameful.
"I'm sorry that you had to experience this, Karthik, in the midst of your loss. Love to you and your family," commented one user. "Shocking! Indian aviation needs to learn a lot, there is large scope for improvement. U just can't simply say fly the new feeling!" tweeted another.
The airline took note of Mr Nagarajan's tweet and responded with an apology.
"Dear Karthik, we are extremely sorry to note your disappointment. We would like to get this looked into, please share your booking reference number/ PNR with us via DM," the airline tweeted from its official handle.
After an investigation, the airline shared a detailed response on Twitter saying they "offered a one-month extension of the voucher's validity".
Vistara said the passenger instead asked for a sector change. "However, when you asked for the sector change, which is not permitted globally, our team requested that you to share the supporting documents for the bereavement in your family as required for compliance purposes," it said in a subsequent tweet.
The airline once again apologised for "inadvertently hurting" his sentiments by asking for the documents as an SOP. They also politely requested the passenger to furnish the document as per his convenience to process the request further.
Vistara's response was appreciated by some Twitter users. "A right response," said one of them.
Last week, a male passenger was arrested for allegedly molesting an airhostess on board a Dubai-Amritsar flight. According to the police, the passenger was drunk.
Rajinder Singh, who belongs to Kotli village of Jalandhar in Punjab, got into a heated argument with the air hostess and allegedly molested her on Saturday, they added.