Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday showed his ire over the seat allocation management by Air India, terming the airline as mismanaged after he was allotted a damaged seat. He wondered whether the passengers were being cheated in such a manner.
Taking to X, Madhya Pradesh former chief minister tweeted about his experience, saying, "Today, I had to go from Bhopal to Delhi to inaugurate the Kisan Mela in Pusa, attend a Natural Farming Mission meeting in Kurukshetra, and meet with representatives of the Kisan Organisation in Chandigarh. I had booked on Air India flight AI436 and was allotted seat number 8C.". When I sat down, the seat was broken and sunken and was highly uncomfortable.
Chouhan went on to reveal that when he questioned the state of affairs, airline officials owned up to knowing the seat's deplorable state and admitted that it should not have been allocated to any passenger.
While other passengers volunteered to swap seats with him, Chouhan preferred not to change seats so as not to inconvenience others. Nevertheless, he did make a strong point, saying, "I don't mind discomfort, but charging passengers the full fare and having them sit in broken, uncomfortable seats is unethical. Isn't this cheating?"
He also pointed out that he had hoped for a better service from Air India after it was acquired by the Tata Group but was let down by the experience.
Speaking directly to the airline, he asked, "Will Air India take corrective action to prevent passengers from going through such hassles in the future, or will it continue to take advantage of their desperation to reach their destinations on time?"
Reacting to the incident, an Air India spokesperson released a statement regretting the incident.
"Air India regrets the inconvenience caused to Hon'ble Union Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji during his flight from Bhopal to Delhi," the spokesperson stated.
They also assured that the airline does not condone such lapses in service and is carrying out a proper inquiry to avoid such instances in the future.
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