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SpiceJet Worst Airline? A Look At SpiceJet’s Culture Of Rudeness: Ground Staff Accused Of Aggression, Extortion, And Abuse

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A few days ago, a video of a violent altercation between an Indian Army officer and SpiceJet ground staff at Srinagar Airport triggered public outrage and sparked the social media trend #BoycottSpiceJet, as conflicting versions of the incident continue to emerge.

The confrontation, partially captured on video and now widely circulated online, reportedly occurred over a dispute about excess cabin baggage. According to SpiceJet’s official complaint, the army officer attempted to carry 16 kg of hand baggage, well above the permitted limit, and allegedly refused to pay for the excess weight. The airline accused the officer of assaulting four staff members, claiming one suffered a spinal fracture while another sustained facial injury.

However, alternative accounts have surfaced challenging this version. Eyewitnesses quoted in multiple reports alleged that the officer was carrying only 8 to 9 kg in cabin baggage, which had already been cleared at check-in. They stated that he was traveling on emergency family leave and that tensions escalated only after he was allegedly mocked by SpiceJet staff and subsequently denied boarding when the gate was shut on him.

Following the denial, the officer allegedly punched a staff member. In response, multiple airline employees are reported to have assaulted him. During the scuffle, the officer was seen picking up a queue divider, reportedly in self-defence. The incident reportedly occurred on 26 July 2025, 9 days prior to the video surfacing.

After the footage gained traction online, SpiceJet filed an FIR and reportedly urged that the officer be blacklisted from flying. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which handles airport security, has stated that it will take appropriate action following the investigation.

The Indian Army issued a statement emphasizing that it upholds the highest standards of discipline and is cooperating fully with the inquiry. However, the incident has prompted a wave of criticism on social media, especially from army veterans and supporters who accuse SpiceJet of disrespecting and mishandling a serving officer.

However, airline staff being rude is not an uncommon occurrance, especially with SpiceJet. The airline was once owned by the relatives of the DMK first family – Kalanidhi Maran.

Let us take a look at few other instances of rude staff behaviour of the same airlines. Many of these instances go unreported, so in this report we bring to you instances that have appeared online on social medla.

Just this week, a netizen shared his experience during check-in. He wrote, “Worst customer service experience with @flyspicejet staff at the gate. Intimidating and rude behavior by the manager and team during check-in for flight SG 0184 (DEL–CCU). Truly unacceptable.”

He further added, “To make things worse, the staff was blatantly lying to passengers during boarding. Despite people complying with early boarding requests, there was zero courtesy shown. Mr. Chandra Kishor Zha (Employee ID: 127981) was especially rude and disrespectful.”

In December 2024, a netizen shared his experience with SpiceJet. He wrote, “SpiceJet Money Extortion by exploiting loopholes in Aviation policies. 1. Reached 15 mins late to the check-in counter 2. Bear with nonsense rude behavior of SpiceJet staff 3. Had to pay 17.5k to board with my entire luggage as hand luggage #AirSewa @MoCA_GoI @flyspicejet 4. Entire Hand luggage is taken as Check-in Luggage upon boarding. 5. Flight takes of 15 mins late. So if you’re 15 mins late to counter – You pay double the fare of ticket extra to just board. But @flyspicejet rescheduling flights and taking off late has no impact. @MoCA_GoI“

Earlier in June 2025, a passenger mentioned that he had to weigh his laptop bag because SpiceJet demanded it. He wrote, “In 25 years of flying, I’ve never had to weigh my laptop bag — until @flyspicejet. Rude staff, exorbitant extra charge for hand baggage, and constantly changing flight time. Absolute mess. Never flying SpiceJet again. Looting customers in broad daylight.”

An entrepreneur noted how SpiceJet resorted to extortion just yesterday. He wrote, “I am at airport and SpiceJet is harassing people here also. They took extra charge from me also even when I didn’t have any check-in baggage. I don’t know how the fuck this airline is still operating when they harass hundreds of people on daily basis!!@MoCA_GoI”

 

Here’s another instance of poor behaviour of staff, overcharging and poor condition of the aircraft. The netizen wrote, “Just took a flight from @flyspicejet on SG 2473.Absolute horrendous experience. Flight delayed by almost 2hrs, rude staff and stupid charges just before boarding for hand baggages. On the top of that, no air conditioning in flight. Felt like literal hell. Never ever fly spicejet”

Another netizen narrated an instance where the staff are apparently weighing the baggage even after successful check-in. He wrote, “I had a similar bad experince with SpiceJet staff and can confirm that they indeed act like “Gunda Gang” at the airport mutiple times even after successful checkin at the counters carrying their weight machines around just to harass people and extract money out of them. @flyspicejet should shut down operations, i think it isn’t their cup of tea to run an airlines company!”

Here is another netizen confirming how the staff have been indulging in this kind of behaviour. He wrote, “Msg recd from one of the travellers from Srinagar.. SpiceJet staff of Srinagar Airlines is just so rude ! They had this coming I faced a similar issue They run a scam where they let the passengers first go through security and then check weights of hand bags at the gate… it wouldn’t matter if you have just 10 kgs in your check in bags They will charge you extra I paid 3k extra at the boarding gate and at the same time a Hav who too was travelling on the same airline was asked to pay 18k or they wouldn’t let him board the flight Though at that time the matter was resolved as there were too many faujis and we spoke to them and the charges were reduced to 3k But still Gundagardi is still on I would say… SpiceJet had it coming..”

SpiceJet staff even harassed a pregnant woman over baggage weight. A netizen shared her friend’s experience saying, “Spice Jet staff totally deserves it, they harassed one of my pregnant friends over 700gm extra weight in check in luggage while she had no hand luggage due to her medical condition was traveling alone but they were so aggressive and annoying she had no choice to remove some clothes and carry in hand”

Here are some other incidents of rude behaviour.

On 11 July 2025 at Jaipur Airport, a crew member assaulted an ASI (Assistant Sub-Inspector) of the CISF. The officer was simply doing his job by preventing the SpiceJet ground staff entry through a gate that the crew member was not authorized to use. In response, the crew member slapped the security officer. This incident received significant media attention at that time.

Here is another video of rude staff behaviour from June 2025.

Here is a video from November 2022 where elderly people with medical issues were on the flight. The flight was delayed by 6 hours – they were flying from Guwahati to Jaipur. The flight was repeatedly rescheduled with no prior intimation on time and the staff was very rude.

A netizen shared his experience from 2023 on Reddit. He wrote that a few months ago, he missed a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai after their system failed to issue his web check-in boarding pass. Despite arriving an hour early with no check-in luggage, customer care tried to upsell him a paid seat to release the pass. At the airport, staff refused to help or prioritize his case, and the manager dismissed him, saying, “File a grievance if you want.” So he did, through the AirSewa portal, naming the manager. Within days, he got an apology, and two months later, a refund. SpiceJet’s service was abysmal, but at least they were held accountable because the passenger filed a complaint.

In a video from 2021, SpiceJet ground staff are seen responding rudely and dismissively to frustrated passengers after a flight cancellation. Instead of calmly explaining the situation, the staff member is seen talking over passengers, mocking their concerns, and repeatedly using the word “loot” sarcastically. When asked for clarity, the staff avoided direct answers, shows no empathy, and creates further confusion. Passengers expressed frustration over poor communication and felt cheated. The overall tone of the staff was unprofessional, provoking anger among passengers already inconvenienced by the cancellation.

SpiceJet is not a newly rude airline, they have been exhibiting such behaviour ever since they were launched it seems – that is what this TripAdvisor account from 14 years ago tells us. The passenger stated that their experience with SpiceJet at Chennai airport was absolutely horrible. The staff showed no understanding of customer service, especially during a delay that was entirely their fault. Instead of helping, they were rude and made the family rush around the airport unnecessarily. One staff member, in particular, was shockingly unprofessional and disrespectful. If they had handled the delay with basic courtesy, the passenger admits that they might not have complained. Sadly, their behavior was disgraceful and embarrassing.

A LinkedIn post from 2017 also tells us about the habitual rude behaviour of SpiceJet airline staff. The LinkedIn member traveling from Hyderabad to Vijayawada reported that SpiceJet staff refused to issue a boarding pass despite him arriving 40 minutes before departure. He explained that he had tried web check-in but the site was down. Despite acknowledging he was late, he requested assistance due to an urgent meeting, but staff remained uncooperative. One executive allegedly told him to “do whatever you want” and initially denied boarding, only relenting after a heated exchange.

These are just a few instances of SpiceJet’s staff behaviour towards passengers, and they have been consistently bad.

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