Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's perception about ‘brand Tata' got broken on Saturday when he was offered a broken seat on his Air India flight from Bhopal to New Delhi.
The Tata Group had bought Air India from the Government of India for ₹18,000 crore in January 2022.
In a post on X, Chouhan wrote, “Today I had to come from Bhopal to Delhi to attend 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,” Chouhan wrote in Hindi, tagging the airline.
“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 wrote.
“My co-passengers requested me to change my seat and sit on a better seat but why should I trouble another friend for my sake, I decided that I would complete my journey by sitting on this same seat,” Chouhan said.
“My impression was that Air India's service would have improved after Tata over the management, but it turned out to be my misconception,” he added.
“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 asked.
“Will the Air India management take steps to ensure that no passenger faces such inconvenience in future or will it continue to take advantage of the passengers' compulsion to reach their destination early?” Chouhan further said.
Chouhan's post on X prompted Air India to respond with an apology.
“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 said in a response to the post.
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