Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday raised questions on the services of Tata Group owned Air India and slammed the aviation company for betraying the passengers.
The minister said that his impression was that Air India’s service would have improved after Tata took over the management, but it turned out to be his misconception.
He flagged the issue on micro blogging site X after he was allotted broken and sunken in seat while he was travelling to Delhi from Bhopal for inaugurating the Kisan Mela in Pusa.
“Today I had to come from Bhopal to Delhi, inaugurate the Kisan Mela in Pusa, hold a meeting of the Natural Farming Mission in Kurukshetra and discuss with the honourable representatives of the Kisan Organisation in Chandigarh. I had booked a ticket on Air India flight number AI436, I was allotted seat number 8C. I went and sat on the seat, the seat was broken and sunken in. It was uncomfortable to sit,” he wrote.
“I don’t care about discomfort in sitting but it is unethical to make passengers sit on bad and uncomfortable seats after charging them full amount. Isn’t this cheating the passengers?” he raised the question.
Meanwhile Air India was quick to respond with an apology and asked time to meet the minister for the same.
“Dear Sir, we apologize for the inconvenience caused. Please be rest assured that we are looking into this matter carefully to prevent any such occurrences in the future. We would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you, kindly DM us a convenient time to connect,” Air India stated.
According to the minister, the management was aware of the broken seat and asked not to sell tickets for that.
“When I asked the airline staff why the seat was allotted to me if it was bad, they told me that the management had been informed earlier that this seat was not good and its ticket should not be sold. There is not just one such seat but many more,” he said.
The two-day Krishi Vigyan Mela started today at the Pusa campus in New Delhi.
Last month, a passenger alleged that he and his minor son were downgraded from business class to economy on an Air India flight. He claimed their seats were reassigned to a crew member.
Last year, another passenger claimed that the business class seat allotted to him on an Air India flight from New Delhi to Newark was unclean and worn out.
