Travelling with a pet on Akasa Air turns horrible for a passenger. Check details

When a LinkedIn user took a flight on January 26 from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru with Akasa Air, his excitement about taking a pet along for the ride turned into a nightmare. He had anticipated trouble-free travel for himself, his spouse, and their Shih Tzu dog even after paying Rs 5,000 for the pet ticket.

As per information from the LinkedIn post of the passenger Lakshya Pathak “Horrible experience with Pet Travel in Akasa Air. My Wife and I were traveling with our pet Shih Tzu on Jan 26 flight from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru. The flight that was intended to leave at 10:20 pm left at 1:40 am. It being our first time with pet travel we reached the airport 3 hrs in advance. So, a delay of more than 3 hrs and we have already spent over 6 hrs at the airport.” Pathak further said in the LinkedIn post “The attitude of the ground staff and CISF could not have been less helpful. Your staff had no clue about how to handle pet-related queries:

1 – On call & mail a very different picture was painted when buying a pet ticket for Rs 5000 would enable comfortable travel of the pet.

2 – Despite the huge delay the airport staff was adamant on not letting the pet ever out of the container. While sitting, thrice the airport security came and asked us to not even let him lie on the floor.

3 – There is no provision for pets to relieve themselves. All the washrooms in the airport have blowers that make a lot of noise so there is no chance pets would pee. To top it off neither the Ground Staff nor the CISF helped in terms of going out of the airport and coming back inside. Ground Staff told me that I would be able to relieve my pet in the flight’s washroom.

4 – In the flight the instructions were very different from what’s advertised, be aware. There is no ‘special seat’ to accommodate for pet travel, not one even the last seat. Boarding took 40 mins during which my pet got heated up, we were also sweating because the ACs were not yet switched on. For the first 45 mins of the flight my dog kept crying so to console him I placed his container in my lap, so that he was able to breathe I just let his head out for a while. Apparently, this is also ‘not allowed’. The pet at all times is supposed to be near your leg space below the seat and we all know how much space there is. So, if the pet is not even allowed to stand on the airport floor or breathe properly in the flight then what is the Pet Ticket for? The torture that was provided?

5 – Untrained and unprofessional flight crew. The crew seemed totally devoid of any logic. We were speaking to one stewart who said if I, a passenger on the window seat, kept the pet container on my lap, it would somehow ‘restrict’ the movement of other passengers. The steward failed to understand that if a pet is not able to breathe in the container then the only solution is to at least let his face out and let him breathe. During the whole flight, I had to forcefully shove my crying pet’s head inside the container multiple times. Constantly the steward kept threatening us that if he takes this to the captain there is a chance he might turn the flight around, l couldn’t care less so I made sure he knew that. If this is the treatment given to the dogs in the cabin, I cannot imagine what treatment is given to the one’s traveling in the cargo. If this is the kind of service you are planning to provide then it’s better to not have the service altogether.

To this, Akasa Air responded “Hi Lakshya, we’ve taken this up with our team, and they will connect with you soon. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you.”

Shreyas Vange