Etihad Airways Reviews & Complaints

Reported By: Erum Raza

Contact information:
Etihad Airways
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Dear Etihad Customer Service Team,

I am writing on behalf of my mother, Mahmooda Raza, who had a very poor and disappointing experience on her recent trip from Karachi to Abu Dhabi. My mother is elderly and suffers from chronic illnesses, including stage 3 cancer and other conditions. On she arrived at Karachi airport several hours before the flight and before the check-in counter opened. Once the counter opened she was one of the first people to check in and this is when she encountered two extremely rude and unprofessional staff, Zara Hussain and Ibn Hassan.

My mother was travelling with 2 pieces of checked baggage and one cabin suitcase. This is the exact same luggage which she checked in at NY-JFK on April 19th, which is her origin airport and final destination).

When she went to check in she was told she was only permitted to check ONE bag and would need to pay for a second bag. The reason the staff provided was that, my mother did not have a return ticket to JFK. This was not true. My mother did have a confirmed return ticket. Please see attached. The staff insisted that without evidence of the ticket provided by my mother there was no choice but to pay for the extra luggage piece. My mother respectfully asked for assistance to search the system for the confirmed ticket or to call her daughter in AD or her son in the USA who had booked the ticket, but the staff displayed no effort to assist whatsoever. During the conversation they were rude, aggressive, and she felt harassed, tauntd and that they were discriminating against her either in the basis of her age (74 years) or nationality (USA).

After this, my mother stepped away from the counter to rearrange luggage between different pieces in order to reduce the weight of the second bag she was told she now had no choice but to pay 4, 646 Pakistani Rupees. While she was rearranging her luggage Etihad staff stood around her and watched. The Karachi airport porter who was assisting my mother remained with her and provided more assistance and was more respectful than any Etihad staff. He also observed and told my mother that while she was rearranging luggage the Etihad staff were watching her and he had seen enough to know these individuals would not leave her alone.

When my mom returned to the counter the staff were even more rude. She payed the fee, was given her boarding pass and proceeded to Immigration.

Shortly thereafter, while waiting in the Immigration line, Ibn Hassan the appeared and demanded that they needed to weigh her cabin luggage and that she may need to check that bag and pay additional fees. My mother insisted that she needed all of these items including medications for her illnesses and to please allow her to proceed noting the hundreds of people who were standing in the Immigration line who were not being bullied into step out of line and return to their respective check-in counters to have cabin luggage weighed. Zara Hussain threatened to deboard her from the plane if she did not step out of the Immigration line. Eventually my mother felt she had no choice and was then told she had to pay 31, 362 Pakistani Rupees (which she ultimately paid, see attached receipt) to proceed. Zara Hussain demanded my mothers boarding pass and when she took it she said out loud and in a taunting manner “I got it!” to her colleagues. She then ripped my mothers boarding pass in the presence of her colleagues and other passengers.

This was extremely humiliating and stress inducing for my mother. The experience caused her to feel accute anxiety and she fell very ill. She was unable to walk and ultimately Karachi Airport staff (not Etihad staff) found a wheelchair and escorted her to the gate. At the gate Zara Hussain was also checking boarding passes and was laughing and making gestures toward my mother.

Upon arrival in Abu Dhabi my mother was still very distraught and anxious. Fortunately my husband, Dr. Jamal Hussain, is an Emergency Medicine consultant at SKMC and was able to observe her. Upon opening her luggage we also realized that my mother had lost necessary prescription medicine and her jewlery.

My mother has never encountered such an experience with Etihad nor has anyone in our family. Both my husband and I, our children, and our parents have been travelling via Etihad since 2008. We have also maintained Gold status for a number of years and travel mutliple times a year on Etihad for both leisure and work.

We do not expect elderly members of our family or anyone to be treated in this matter. In our view what happened with my mother was unacceptable and we hope this will will be promptly investigated by Etihad with appropriate action taken towards the staff immediately. Provided she is fully recovered my mother is expected to travel back to NY-JFK in less than a week. We are very concerned that she arrives back home safely.

Thank you and look forward to a response.

Kind regards,
Erum Raza
[email protected]
050-442-0862