New Delhi: Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday criticised Air India for allocating a broken and uncomfortable seat on his flight from Bhopal to Delhi. In a post on social media platform X, Chouhan detailed his experience aboard Air India flight AI436, stating that his assigned seat 8C was damaged and sunken, making it difficult to sit.
“Today, I had to travel from Bhopal to Delhi for the inauguration of the Kisan Mela at Pusa, a meeting on the Natural Farming Mission in Kurukshetra, and discussions with esteemed representatives of farmer organisations in Chandigarh. I had booked a ticket on Air India flight AI436 and was allotted seat number 8C. When I sat down, I found that the seat was broken and had sunk in. It was uncomfortable to sit on,” read his post.
Passengers offered to switch seats with him
Despite being aware of the issue, airline staff still assigned the faulty seat, he alleged. “When I asked the airline staff why such a faulty seat was assigned, they informed me that the management had already been notified about the issue and that the ticket should not have been sold,” Chouhan wrote further, adding that multiple seats on the flight were in poor condition.
Passengers offered to switch seats with him, but Chouhan declined, choosing to complete his journey on the damaged seat. The minister further wrote that he had assumed that airline’s service had improved under Tata’s management, but he was mistaken. He post read further: “I am not concerned about my own discomfort, but charging passengers the full fare while making them sit in broken and uncomfortable seats is unethical. Is this not a betrayal of passengers? Will Air India’s management take steps to ensure that no other passenger faces such an issue in the future, or will they continue to exploit passengers’ urgency to reach their destinations?”
Air India’s response
In response, Air India apologised and assured the minister that they were investigating the matter. “Dear Sir, we apologise for the inconvenience caused. Please rest assured that we are looking into this matter carefully to prevent such occurrences in the future,” the airline posted on X, offering to discuss the issue further.
Air India, now under Tata Group’s management, has faced frequent service-related complaints, including its aging fleet issues, frequent flight cancellations and delays, and poor customer service and inconsistent baggage handling.
