IndiGo flyer lost his bag, discovered a data leak. Airline says not true
Airports are usually a labyrinth. You need to get through the parking, then the ticket counter, then the security (the worst bit of unpacking and packing again) and then the boarding and the competition for the overhead bin space. Flying is a task.
It doesn’t end with just boarding a plane; when it lands, it’s Hunger Games for Indians all over again, falling over each other to get their beloved goods. But have you ever experienced the worst luggage nightmare at airports?
There are two nightmarish scenarios you can face:
1. You wait and wait and wait at the assembly belt, but your luggage never arrives. It’s lost!
2. You pick up a bag and reach home only to find that the bag is not yours.
Well, this desi IndiGo flyer lived the second nightmare. Twitter user Nandan Kumar, whose bio says he’s a computer engineer, flew from Patna to Bengaluru on an IndiGo flight on March 27, 2022. After landing, he picked up a bag from the conveyor belt.
But as luck had it, he picked up the wrong bag, which looked quite similar to his. He only found out about it after reaching home. So, what does a person do in this situation? Call up the customer care of the airline, right?
Unfortunately, the airline customer care was not very helpful, according to Kumar. They refused to get him and the co-passenger in touch with each other to find each other’s exchanged luggage. They even lied about trying to help, according to Kumar.
But Kumar was desperate to find his beloved luggage. He had the co-passenger’s PNR number on the exchanged luggage. So the computer engineer in him pressed F12 on the keyboard while on the IndiGo website.
And guess what he found! The developer console opened up, showing the whole data log on it. So, if you had booked or were booking an IndiGo flight, your data, like your contact number and email ID was visible to this person who had pressed a button on the keyboard. For Kumar, it was gold as he was able to find his co-passenger’s contact details. They met up and exchanged their luggage and the problem was solved.
But according to Nandan Kumar, the IndiGo website is probably still leaking the data of its customers, which most think is protected. Apparently not! If your data is in there, then the third party looking into it knows you’ve been booking a flight from one place to another, they know when you will land and all other details about your trip. That’s certainly not what most us want exposed.
Kumar highlighted two problems with IndiGo here: one, their poor customer care service; and two, the data leak.
IndiGo responded to DailyO and Nandan Kumar in a tweet denying allegations of the data leak and also the unhelpful customer care experience. IndiGo said that anyone can retrieve contact information using the PNR, last name, contact number or email address from the website. The airline stressed that their 'IT processes are completely robust' and that 'at no point was the IndiGo website compromised'.
IndiGo also said that they are 'reviewing this case in detail'.
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR LOST LUGGAGE?
In Kumar’s case, it was luggage exchanged between passengers. In other cases, luggage is usually misplaced or lost by airlines or is left unclaimed by passengers. But have you ever wondered what happens to the lost unclaimed luggage at airports?
1. Well, if you are looking for lost luggage, then check out Airports Authority of India’s portal, where all such lost unclaimed luggage is listed. You can make a claim too.
2. However, your lost luggage will be in the care of the airport only for 90 days from the date of receipt of the item. After that, if it remains unclaimed, it will be disposed off according to rules. Perishable items are disposed off after 48 hours of being lost. So hurry up, if you think you’ve lost something at the airport.
WHAT HAPPENS TO UNCLAIMED LOST LUGGAGE?
What exactly happens to the luggage that goes unclaimed for 90 days? How is it disposed off?
1. Such lost and unclaimed luggage is usually handed over to the CISF personnel by the cleaning or other staff at an airport.
2. The CISF scans the lost baggage and stores them at an AAI office as per the norms. They are stored for 90 days and then disposed off as storage is limited.
3. After a period of 90 days, these lost items are auctioned off for various causes. Sometimes they are auctioned off exclusively for the staff and sometimes it is open for public. Here is an example of an auction from 2018 in Pune by the AAI, which lists the goods going under the hammer.
4. AAI says such auctions are usually publicised in leading dailies and interested parties can even apply for the auction online.
You will know about the unclaimed luggage business if you are a fan of American reality show Baggage Battle, where competitors buy lost unclaimed airport luggage for cheap and sell them for profit. The US also has something called Unclaimed Baggage that buys unclaimed luggage from airports in the US and sells them at its department store outlets. They have even gone online now.
Perhaps if you like the competition and mystery of what you may find in lost luggage treasure, airport auctions are the best go-to place for you. Who knows you may even find your very own lost watch or other item at the auction!
(This story has been updated with IndiGo's response.)