Mumbai airport strike delays 87-year-old’s cancer medicines for 24 hours

Baggage at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, which was yet to be returned to fliers on Tuesday. Pics/By Special Arrangement

An 87-year-old cancer patient, Mangaldas Thakkar, was handed luggage containing medication and medical reports over 24 hours after his flight landed in the city from Bhuj, Gujarat, on Monday. The reason for the delay? A strike organised by third-party ground staff at T2, who, according to sources, are demanding better wages.

While the protest didn't continue into Tuesday, baggage delays were still witnessed. Though many passengers got their luggage after waiting for one to four hours on Monday, some still hadn't received them till noon the next day.

The message posted by Mahendra Chothani on X on Monday night and Air India's reply, which came 13 minutes later

Thakkar's son-in-law, Mahendra Chothani, who highlighted the incident on social media, stated that despite having landed around noon on Monday, the luggage was received at 3.30 pm on Tuesday. Chothani told mid-day, "We recently got the news that my father-in-law doesn't have long to live as his body has grown weaker. When we informed him about this, he requested that we accompany him to his hometown for a pilgrimage."

"My son and his wife had gone with him, and when they returned yesterday, they didn't get their bags. My son tried to explain to the airport authorities that my father-in-law was ill and his medicines and reports were in the bags. Still, the latter said they couldn't do anything as the strike had been called by a union and that it was a complicated matter," he added.

No response

mid-day contacted Air India but didn't receive a response by press time. Information received from sources by this paper suggests that the airline had faced issues with the baggage-handling system as those who were participating in the strike were mainly loaders for the airline.

The aftermath

The family went home, hoping that the senior citizen's health wouldn't deteriorate due to the situation. Chothani said, "I resorted to posting on X on Monday night because we weren't getting any replies from the airline. Luckily, we eventually received the bags. We are now relieved."

May 18
Day the cancer patient and his family landed in Mumbai