Shivraj slams Air India over ’broken’ seat; carrier orders probe

Bhopal/Mumbai, Feb 22 (PTI) Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday slammed Tata Group-owned Air India for allotting him a “broken and sunk” seat and described it as an “unethical” practice wherein the airline charges passengers full fare and then makes them occupy defective seats.

After Chouhan shared his experience on X, Air India apologised for the “inconvenience”, and ordered a “thorough” probe into the incident.

Chouhan stated that he was travelling from Bhopal to Delhi to inaugurate a farmers’ fair in Pusa, attend the Natural Farming Mission meeting in Kurukshetra, and holds discussions with representatives of the farmers’ organisation in Chandigarh.

The Union minister said he had boarded the Delhi-bound Air India flight AI436 from Bhopal.

“I was allotted seat number 8C. When I reached my seat and sat down, I found that it was broken and sunk. Sitting was uncomfortable,” the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister wrote on X.

When he confronted the crew over the allotment of a defective seat, he was told that the management had been apprised about the condition of the seat, which shouldn’t be sold to passengers.

Chouhan claimed several seats on the flight were in a similar condition.

“Fellow passengers insisted that I exchange seats with them and take a better one, but I didn’t want to trouble any of my friends for my own comfort. So, I decided to complete my journey on the same seat,” he stated.

Chouhan said he assumed Air India’s service would have improved after being taken over by the Tata management, but he was mistaken.

“I am not concerned about my discomfort, but charging passengers full fare and then making them sit on defective and uncomfortable seats is unethical.

“Isn’t this a form of deception towards passengers?” he asked.

Chouhan further asked whether Air India management would take steps to ensure that no passenger faces such discomfort in the future, “or will it continue to exploit passengers’ urgency to reach their destination?”

Expressing “regrets” for the inconvenience caused to Union Minister, Air India spokesperson in a statement said, “we are conducting a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.”

“Air India deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to Hon’ble Union Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan ji on his flight from Bhopal to Delhi. This does not reflect the standard of service we strive to provide to our guests, and we are conducting a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure that such incidents are not repeated,” an Air India Spokesperson said.

Also, taking note of Chouhan’s tweet, Air India replied on X, “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.”