Social worker slams Air India Express over boarding denial. Airline cites 25-min rule

Social worker Tarun Mishra called out Air India Express after he was stopped from boarding a flight he said was still 15 minutes away from departure. The airline in a response, however, said he had reached the gate after its boarding deadline had already passed.

Tarun, who has more than 3.5 million followers on Instagram, shared the incident in a video posted by his team member Vikas Jha.

The clip, which has crossed 7.2 million views, showed him speaking from the airport boarding area.

“Guys 6.20 pm pe mai yaha pe khada hu aur 6.35 pm pe mera flight hai aur ye log mujhe yaha pe rok rahe hain jaane ke liye. Itna request karne ke baad bhi ki mera situation urgent hai. Air India ki jo service hai wo bilkul hi bekaar hai, main tag kar raha hu unko (Guys, I have been standing here at 6.20 pm and my flight is at 6.35 pm, and they are stopping me from going in. Even after requesting them repeatedly and explaining that my situation is urgent, they are not letting me through. Air India’s service is absolutely terrible, and I am tagging them)," Tarun said in the video.

"Yaha ke jo employees hai wo bilkul badtameez hai, inko baat karne ki koi tameez nahi hai. Yahi pe agar koi VIP hota, toh flight bhi ruk jaati aur abhi bhi flight ke jaane ka time nahi hua hai par inhone abhi se door close kar diya hai (The employees here are extremely rude and do not know how to speak to people. If there were a VIP here, the flight would have been held back, but it is not even time for the flight to leave and they have already closed the door),” he added.

Air India Express responded to the post with its explanation, saying Tarun had reached the boarding gate at 6.20pm for a flight scheduled to depart at 6.35pm.

“Thank you for reaching out to us. As we checked, you have reported at the boarding gate at 18:20, while the flight was scheduled to depart at 18:35. We would like to inform you that boarding gates close 25 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time, and multiple announcements were made requesting guests to proceed for boarding. Thank you for your understanding and feedback.”

The airline’s response prompted some users to explain why a flight cannot simply wait until its scheduled departure time before closing its doors.

One user pointed to several mandatory steps, including load and trim calculations, centre-of-gravity checks, security procedures, documentation and regulatory requirements, all of which need to be completed before an aircraft can depart.

Others, however, sided with Tarun Mishra, saying they had faced similar situations at airports. Some also questioned his claim about VIP treatment and asked whether ordinary passengers received the same flexibility.- EndsPublished By: Srimoyee ChowdhuryPublished On: Sep 24, 2026 10:49 IST