Deception of passengers: Shivraj Chouhan slams Air India over 'broken' seat on flight
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday called out the Tata-owned Air India for “sunken and broken” seats on a flight he had booked from Bhopal to Delhi and sought accountability from the airlines which offered profuse apologies.
Chouhan, who has to arrive in Chandigarh for talks with protesting farmers on Saturday and address a programme in Kurukshetra, took to X to share details of his inconvenient journey on the Bhopal-Delhi flight and how his passengers struggled too.
Chouhan stated he was travelling from Bhopal to Delhi to inaugurate a farmers' fair in Pusa, attend the Natural Farming Mission meeting in Kurukshetra, and discuss 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.
आज मुझे भोपाल से दिल्ली आना था, पूसा में किसान मेले का उद्घाटन, कुरुक्षेत्र में प्राकृतिक खेती मिशन की बैठक और चंडीगढ़ में किसान संगठन के माननीय प्रतिनिधियों से चर्चा करनी है।
मैंने एयर इंडिया की फ्लाइट क्रमांक AI436 में टिकिट करवाया था, मुझे सीट क्रमांक 8C आवंटित हुई। मैं जाकर…
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) February 22, 2025
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.
“My impression was that Air India's service would have improved after Tata took over the management, but it turned out to be my misconception. 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?” asked Chouhan.
The Union minister 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?”
