India: Kitten goes missing before flight, passenger accuses airline of 'negligence'

A female passenger travelling from the national capital to Manipur's Imphal on an Air India's flight alleged that she lost her pet cat at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport due to the "negligence" of the airline staff, and asked the members to take responsibility for it.

A Twitter user shared about the lost kitten on the microblogging site, claiming that the pet was lost due to Air India's negligence.

"My friend's pet is missing due to negligence by @airindiain staff. This is a heart-wrenching tragedy and your negligence is inexcusable. You must take responsibility for your actions and make things right immediately. @RNTata2000," Sony Somar, a friend of the passenger tweeted.

The female passenger, identified as Jangneichong Karong, in a complaint to authorities said that she took the flight Al 889 flight from Delhi to Imphal at 9.55am on April 24.

"Date: 24/4/2023, I took the Al 889 flight from Delhi to Imphal at 9.55 am. As was travelling with 2 or my kittens (pet baby cats), I arrived at the airport at around 6.30am. Ready to do everything to take my 2 kittens with me to my hometown. It was at the check-in that the night staff informed me that had 2 options either to reschedule or move to business class to take them with me in the cabin. Unfortunately, as the flight reschedule option was not available, I agreed to move to business class as was not comfortable to let my kittens travel through cargo but they said I'll have to wait till the morning staff arrives for any procedures. This led to me waiting till 7.30am for the staff to arrive which was futile again because they informed me that business class is not possible and the only option is cargo. With heaviness in my heart, knowing that my kittens will at least have each other I agreed to the same and went ahead with procedures," the passenger alleged in her complaint.

"I ensured to secure the cage properly (it's a sturdy cage which you may check to clarify your doubts). There is no way that in any circumstance, it will open on its own or be kicked open by tiny kittens. After being given a proper go-ahead and assurance that my kittens are safe, I went ahead with security. But to my utter shock, it was when reached the gate with little time to board that I overheard the staff murmuring about pets on hold. With absolute fear, I went ahead to enquire and it broke my heart to hear that it was my pet on hold, the reason which they didn't tell me. After another 30 minutes of waiting, the manager said that 1 of my kitten ran out of the cage that was very well secured. With only 7 minutes to boarding, I was almost forced to give my consent to fly with just 1 kitten," the complaint read.

Karong threatened action against the airline if it fails to find her pet. "Please help me get my pet back or I'll have to take necessary action against your airline," Karong said in her complaint.

The passenger further said that she is in shock that one of her two kittens is still missing and untraceable, and she is still showing faith in Air India.

"This was heartbreaking and I'm still in complete mental shock that one of my kittens went missing. I'm sure your staff members were not careful with them because the latch felt loose when received it upon arrival. Really not sure who played with it resulting in me losing one of my pets," the complaint read.

She said that the airline charged the full amount for the two kittens as cargo during the trip. "Passenger who was ready to pay and in fact, paid all the required amount to have my 2 kittens fly with me. On top of that because of your staff members in capabilities. I had to go through the physical and mental hassles. Even had one of my friends travel to the airport to pick them up, if I wasn't allowed to travel with them. This is really not done," the passenger complained.

Air India is silent on the media question of the missing cat incident.

The airline replied to her friend's tweet about the incident and said, "Dear Ms Karongwe can understand your disappointment. Please be rest assured, we've already shared your details with the team to look into your concern and resolve it ASAP. We need some time to get back to you with an update."

The Air India passenger has conveyed she has no faith in Air India and demands CCTV footage to find one of her kittens.

"This is #missingkitten PHOENIX and SKKY. They are siblings. Didn't want to separate them, so the plan was to give them a bigger area to run and play around. Unfortunately, Phoenix is still #missing in the airport. Give permission to look for her. Demand CCTV footage of the incident," Karong tweeted.

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