Actor Sonu Sood has come forward to support IndiGo during its big flight crisis that stranded thousands of passengers across the country. A series of flights in the last few days were either delayed or cancelled for a combination of reasons: technology issues, weather disruption, and new crew-rostering rules.
In a video message that Sood posted on Saturday, December 6 on X, he said that his own family suffered because of the delays. “Mera khud ka parivaar travel kar raha tha aur unhe 4-5 ghante wait karna pada. Phir flight udi aur woh pohonch bhi gaye, lekin bohot saari flights udi hi nahi, cancel hui. Bohot log shaadiyan attend nahi kar paaye, meetings aur events cancel ho gaye. Sabko bohot takleef hui.” (My own family was travelling and had to wait for 4–5 hours. Then their flight took off and they reached, but many other flights didn’t take off and were cancelled. Many people couldn’t attend weddings, and meetings and events were cancelled. Everyone faced a lot of inconvenience) he said.
Despite the inconvenience, Sood empathised with the ground staff, who he said were doing their best under challenging circumstances.
Urging passengers to stay calm
He also urged passengers not to take out their frustration on the staff. “Lekin dukh ki baat yeh thi ki airports par jitna bhi ground staff tha, log unpe kaise chilla rahe the. I know frustration hoti hai, dukh hota hai, aur gussa bhi nikalta hai. Lekin ek baar khud ko unki jagah imagine kijiye, unhe bhi nahi pata hota ki aage kya schedule hoga, flights udengi ya nahi. Upar se unhe jo messages milte hain, woh bas aap tak pass karte hain.” (But the sad part was how people were shouting at all the ground staff at the airports. I know there is frustration, there is sadness, and anger comes out too. But just try to imagine yourself in their place—they also don’t know what the schedule will be or whether flights will take off. On top of that, the messages they receive are just passed on to you), he said.
Also Read | IndiGo crisis: What rights do you possess if your flight is postponed or cancelled?
Responsibility to support airport staff
Sood emphasised that passengers must remember the staff are just doing their jobs. “Jis tarah logon ne react kiya, jis tarah jhagde hue, it is unfortunate. Yeh woh staff hai jo hum sab ka dhyaan rakhte hain. Humesha unke chehre par smiles hoti hain, chahe inflight crew ho ya on-ground crew. Woh humein escort karte hain, humara khayal rakhte hain. Toh humari bhi responsibility banti hai ki jab un par mushkil aaye, hum unka saath dein.” (The way people reacted and the way arguments broke out, it is unfortunate. These are the staff who take care of all of us. Their faces always carry smiles, whether it’s the in-flight crew or the on-ground crew. They escort us and look after us. So it becomes our responsibility to support them when they face difficulties.”
He further asked people that as responsible citizens, “it's very important for us to make sure hum unpar react na kare because they are very helpless and don't have any answers. Please try to keep calm. Jo gussa hai use control kijiye.”
