SpiceJet air hostess accidentally dropped hot water and burnt me, didn't even say sorry

To whomsoever it "will not" concern

Subject: Shame on you.

It is lovely to see young, strong and confident people working hard as flight "attendants". They remind me of a bunch of mules on hill stations, helping people climb up and down.

The difference, I suppose, is the fact that a cabin crew member is trained, well-oriented and "hospitable", if not human to begin with. (Please don’t miss the quote marks, we’re gonna need them for reference later.)

I say this because where I come from, the cabin crew's purpose is not only giving robotic safety instructions or moving the food trolley. They are supposed to be from the "hospitality" industry. It is, supposedly, a service profession where one of the key responsibilities is to "take care" of the passengers.

Those who are reading this, please be patient. There is a point I am arriving at.

I am not saying that they should run to the passengers with a handkerchief whenever they hear someone sneeze but would want to draw your attention to what happened on your flight from New Delhi to Goa, SG-173 on the morning of 10th April, 2015.

Unfortunately, I asked for a cup of tea and paid the money for it too. Hot water came along with the premix tea packet. The boiling hot water accidentally fell on my thigh from the tray table which made me scream at the top of my voice.

It can happen. It's an accident and not an alien one on an airline with turbulences happening all the time. Little kids could also be a victim of something like that.

The air-hostess did NOT spill it on me. I repeat, it was an accident.

The young, "hard working" and ever-smiling air hostess didn’t even bother to give a damn with words as basic as "are you okay?" Instead she kept that moronic smile on her face and keeps serving food to other passengers. (Remember my mule reference?)

The unbearable burn made me run to the lavatory only to discover that a large part of the skin from my right thigh had started to come off and the pain was getting less bearable with every passing second.

I asked the staff for ice, or cold water, or a chilled can of anything that's available and the first-aid box. Guess what they had?

None of the above.

All they could manage after my repeated asking was only a can of semi-cold Pepsi. It was a young man with another version of the same moronic smile who offered that "help". Only this time, the guy was asking for money for that can I was yet to use.

There was no attempt of help. Neither did the first-aid arrive. Not even a piece of cotton.

A doctor (passenger), coincidentally present on the flight suggested that even something as basic as Burnol/Silverex from the first-aid would help loads but the airhostess said the only thing that they could manage at that point was a tube of Soframycin which obviously was of no help for a burn that serious.

Shame on this airline!

I was on bed for three weeks. The burn was painful and it has left some awful scars that will take years to fade away - some, which will never fade away at all.

On Twitter, my husband asked for an explanation and there was some strange defending that came from the company’s CEO with lies told to him by his own staff present as cabin crew on that flight.

The company I was working for didn’t support me either. In my head, I was in a very difficult place. Hence I was asked to forget about the incident that left these scars on me. I did. And I quit my job too.

The purpose of writing this letter is to arrive at a larger point. There is this huge scar on my thigh which might fade away or I may learn to ignore it one day, years later.

What I will never forget is a bigger scar that this incident has left on my mind and my heart.

This is the heart of a 25-year-old, newly married girl on her way to Goa for a lovely time at an awards function, completely unaware that something like this would happen to her.

Also, the airline couldn’t even do as much as simply provide a first-aid box or apologize and promise to be careful in the future for the sake of people who choose to fly with them.

Next time you’re on a flight with these guys, carry your own first-aid box and those who choose to work with these guys, carry your conscience.

Yours truly,

Moumita Pal

(This post first appeared on the writer's Facebook wall.)

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