Pooja Kathail, a PhD student at UC Berkeley, expressed her frustration with Air India after the airline failed to load her luggage on a direct flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru.
In a viral post on X, Pooja mentioned that she had to call Air India's customer care approximately "40 times" before receiving a response. The incident occurred on July 8, and Air India responded to her post with an apology.
Pooja's post also revealed that she is expected to attend a wedding on July 9 but is left without appropriate attire due to the airline's oversight.
She wrote, "Took a direct flight sfo->blr yesterday and @airindia never loaded my suitcase on the plane. It's been 36 hrs, and still no delivery estimate. And it took 40 tries to get them to even pick up the phone. Going to a wedding tomorrow and don't have any clothes."
In response to Pooja's complaint, Air India wrote, "Dear Ms. Kathail, we truly sorry for the delay and regret the inconvenience caused. Please DM us your PNR, PIR copy and bag tag for us to check with our airport/baggage team and get back to you with an update."
The incident sparked a discussion among social media users, with many sharing similar experiences in the comments section.
One user commented, "The same happened with my family as well on the YYZ - DEL flight on July 4. 134 bags were left in Toronto. This seems to be a systematic problem."
Another user wrote, "Nothing new with AI they are infamous for loosing bags. Good luck."