Shilpa Shetty accuses Australian airline staff of racism at Sydney airport

Actress Shilpa Shetty has accused an Australian airline staff of racism at the Sydney airport. The actress was travelling from Sydney to Melbourne and came across a staff member of Qantas Airways who was curt to Shetty because of her skin colour, she alleges. Shetty took to social media to share the incident. One's tone should not be dictated by preference to skin colour, she wrote in her angry post.

Shetty wrote that while travelling to Melbourne, she came across a staff member at the check-in counter called Mel, who was grumpy. Mel spoke curtly to the actress and her co-travellers because she decided it was okay to do so to brown people. Shetty further says that she had 2 duffle bags that was allowed with her. However, Mel informed her that her "half-empty" duffle bag was oversized and that she needs to check-in at the counter that deals with oversized bags.

Once she reached the other counter, she was met by a very polite staff member who informed her that her bag was not oversized at all and that she should go and get her check-in done from a manual counter. Shetty said  that all that was happening while the counter was going to shut in 5 minutes.

She wrote that she tried the manual check-in but couldn't get it done. So, she went back to Mel as her colleague had already clarified that Shetty's bag was not oversized. However, Mel refused again and they had to go back to the oversized baggage counter. When she informed the staff member at the oversized baggage counter that Mel will not let her bag pass as a normal sized one, another colleague reiterated that her bag was not oversized and should have been allowed for check-in.

Shetty said that she wants Qantas to know about the incident and take cognisance of the matter. She added that their staff must be taught to be helpful. "TONE can't change with preference to #COLOUR ."WE" are NOT #pushovers and they MUST know that being #callous and #Rude will NOT BE TOLERATED," she wrote.

She then asked Qantas to say whether the duffle bag on the picture she had posted is oversized.

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Subject: #Qantas airways @qantas This should get your attention! Travelling from Sydney to Melbourne and at the check in counter met a grumpy #Mel ( that's her name)who decided it was "OK" to speak curtly to "US" ( Brown people!!) travelling together ,I was flying business and had 2 bags (my allowance)and she insisted and decided my half empty Duffel bag was oversized( to check in!!) So she sent us to check it in at the other counter dealing with "Oversized luggage" ..there a Polite lady(yes this one was) said .."this ISN'T an oversized bag, pls check this in manually if u can at another counter" ( all this happening while the counter is going to shut in 5 mins) As the manual check in wasn't going thru for 5 mins( we tried) I went upto #Mel and requested her to put the bag thru as her colleague said it wasn't an oversized bag.. She refused again.. Just being adamant especially when I told her this is causing a lot of inconvenience .. We had no time to waste so we ran to the oversized baggage counter and requested her to put the bag through which she did after I told her that #Rude #Mel had issues !!!.... to which another colleague joined in an reiterated my duffle wasn't oversized and could've easily been checked in. The point is .. This piece is only for #qantas airlines to know and take cognisance .. that their staff must be taught to be helpful and TONE can't change with preference to #COLOUR ."WE" are NOT #pushovers and they MUST know that being #callous and #Rude will NOT BE TOLERATED . Ps: Please tell me if that bag in the picture is oversized??!! @australia @visitmelbourne @travel #truthmustbetold #bemused #uncalledfor #standup #equality #whatswrongisnotright #instapic #travelwoes #shocking #nightmare #notcool

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A post shared by Shilpa Shetty Kundra (@theshilpashetty) on Sep 22, 2018 at 6:37pm PDT

Qantas replied to her in a tweet and apologised for her experience.

We're sorry to hear that you have had a negative experience with us today Shilpa. We have passed your feedback on to the relevant team and we hope that you have a great experience with us onboard! Khalid

- Qantas (@Qantas) September 23, 2018

This is not the first time Shilpa Shetty has come face-to-face with instances of racism. In 2007, Shetty was part of British reality show, Celebrity Big Brother, where she faced racism. She, however, emerged as the winner of the show.

(Edited by Anwesha Madhukalya)