Her testimony adds to many parents’ complaints against Turkish Airlines and other carriers, citing inadequate service, small seats, and lack of accommodation for families traveling with infants.
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Image credits:areana473
The mother’s clip, in which she recorded herself crying while carrying her dormant infant in a very small space, has gone massively viral, with close to18 million viewson TikTok at the time of writing.
The mother thought the worst was over after being reassigned to a vacant bassinet seat. Yet, four hours passed without it being installed. Her repeated requests were met with indifference, as one crew member finally told her, “We don’t have a bassinet for this flight.”
“I flew with Turkish Airlines last month and had a similar issue. They didn’t seem to care about helping parents with smallkids,” one parent commented.
The mother uploaded a follow-up video saying that, while she was treated politely on her first flight, customer service became aggressive as soon as the passengers became majority Filipino
Areana went on to explain that what happened to her was an isolated incident, stating that herflightfrom Helsinki to Istanbul went smoothly, with flight attendants who were “polite, kind, and helpful,” and that it was during her connecting flight from Istanbul to Manila that she felt disrespected.
“I was treated right during myflightfrom Helsinki-Istanbul where most of the travelers were Western, but everything changed during the flight from Istanbul-Manila, where most of the travelers were Filipino,” she wrote.
The inconsistency in service shocked her, leaving her questioning the airline’s treatment of passengers based on ethnicity. She recounted how flight attendants went from being kind and polite to rude and harsh as soon as she stepped into the plane headed towards the Philippines.
“Thank you. It doesn’t matter if I get compensated or not. What matters is that people heard my story, and everyone shares their own experiences,” the mother replied.
Others asked Areana to sue thecarrier, but she said she didn’t wish to further ruin their reputation based on the good impression she had during her flight from Helsinki to Istanbul.
The mother also replied to users urging her to file a complaint, stating that she had already done so and would provide an update as soon as it was available.
Turkish Airlines has confirmed that it has sent the mother a response stating that it is investigating the issue and that a full refund will be issued within 14 days if applicable.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you,” wrote one viewer, as other joined in to offer their support to the mother
Rugilė Žemaitytė
Larysa Perih
Parenting
